


Return to Sender

by Chaosprincess, SegaBarrett



Category: Breaking Bad, Oz (TV)
Genre: AU, Breaking Bad Season 5, Gen, M/M, Oz Season 4
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-11-23
Updated: 2014-08-16
Packaged: 2018-01-02 09:46:16
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 12
Words: 31,850
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1055322
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Chaosprincess/pseuds/Chaosprincess, https://archiveofourown.org/users/SegaBarrett/pseuds/SegaBarrett
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Mike gets called in for a job by Tobias Beecher - retrieve Beecher's two children from captivity. Can they win this race against time?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Disclaimer: We don't own Breaking Bad or Oz, and we make no money from this. 
> 
> Warning: Violence against children, though not as bad as canon Oz.

After they found a single finger in a package addressed to Tobias Beecher, Beecher decided he needed to step up his game. He hadn't heard anything new from Zabitz, and time seemed to be running out. He decided he needed a new tact.

He had met Saul Goodman briefly at a legal conference years ago, and Toby could remember thinking the man seemed to be working for the wrong side of the law. But somehow he also seemed like a man with contacts.

He made the call. Saul promised to send someone who could get the job done.

A day and a half later, Toby had a visitor. 

Mike entered Oswald Correctional Facility nonchalantly. It wasn't his first time visiting maximum security prison, but it was his first time visiting this one. He arrived wearing a gray suit and his reading glasses, and carrying briefcase filled with boring legal papers that had absolutely nothing to do with visiting Tobias Beecher.

Mike recognized his "client" immediately and calmly took a seat. "Saul Goodman sent me."

"Hi," Toby said quickly. "I... I'm going to cut to the chase. Please tell me you can find my kids. They're .. the FBI is barking up the wrong tree and I got... they sent..." Tobias had to use every ounce of energy to not break down.

"Take a breath," Mike said, voice steady and low. "I will do my absolute best to find your children. What did they send?"

Mike braced himself for something horrible, though hands were folded neatly on the table and his expression was stone calm.

"A finger. They said... it's my son's. Gary. He's seven."

Mike blinked. It was the only sort of reaction he could give while in his professional state of mind.

"Anything else? Nothing from your daughter?"

Toby shook his head. "N-nothing from her."

Mike nodded. "Listen, there's a pretty good chance your children are still alive and if I work fast then maybe we can recover them. But I need you to do a couple of things on your end. You think that the guy responsible for their kidnapping is in this building?"

"Yeah." Toby's expression was icy. "Vern Schillinger. This Nazi fuck."

Mike kept his bored expression. "Yeah, him. I'm gonna need you not to confront him. If the situation between he and you escalates too quickly, you'll risk losing time to rescue your kids. I'm gonna also need you to continue grieving, however you're doing it. Don't act hopeful. I think it's pretty obvious by the lack of ransom notes and the finger being mailed that your kidnapper wants you to suffer. The longer you appear to suffer, the longer he's gonna drag this out and give us a chance to find your kids. Did you get all that? Or do you need me to repeat it?"

Toby shook his head. "That... that shouldn't be a problem. And I won't tell anyone about this." There was a bit of hurt in that last statement. He wished he could tell Chris. He did trust Chris, really he did, but... He couldn't risk having his own need to be comforted end up in his kids being dead. It was bad enough that this thing had happened to Gary, that Genevieve was dead. It was all on him. God, it was all on him. "Do you... will Gary be okay? If ... if you find him?"

"He'll be shy a finger," Mike said dryly with no hint of a smile. "but yeah, I think he'll be alright so long as we get to him in time. Now, is there anything else you'd like to tell me? Because chances are I'll be working around the clock and you'll only be able to contact me through Goodman."

Toby shook his head. "Just... just get me my kids back. Anything I've done... that's not on them. They shouldn't have to suffer for my mistakes. I just... I just want them safe."

Mike nodded solemnly. "You take care, Beecher. Goodman will call you when we find them."

He rose from his chair and extended a hand for his client to shake.

Toby extended his hand and shook Mike's. He looked him in the eye, finding himself unable to stare down at their hands. 

Mike gave him a steady look back. He was determined to find these children. He hadn't had a job like this since his days in Philly as a cop. Letting go of Beecher's hand, Mike walked out of the visiting room. It occurred to him that he might need some back up and there was only one person he wanted to call.

Back in the ABQ, Jesse was sitting on his futon, watching TV. Thank God they had found that ricin cigarette. He still couldn't believe he had almost blown Mr. White's head off based on his own stupidity. Thank God the man had forgiven him, even if he had been acting weird as hell recently. 

Mike was just driving over ABQ's city limits when he finally dialed Jesse. He held the burner phone to his ear and listened to it ring.

Jesse picked up on the first ring.

"Hey. Who's this?" The number wasn't familiar, but that could mean it was either Mr. White or Mike.

"It's Mike. Where are you?"

"Home. What's going on?"

"I want to ask you about something. Best not to say it over the phone. I'll be there in a minute."

"Okay, Mike. I'll see you when you get here. I'm alone, so you're okay there."

Mike felt a smile inch onto his face. He hung up and a few minutes later he was at Jesse's door, knocking.

Jesse arrived at the door and quickly let Mike in.

"Hey. What's going on? Is everything alright?"

"With the business? Yeah. This is non-meth related, Kid. As you know, I do the occasional job passed to me by Saul." 

Jesse nodded, trying not to remember the job Saul had called Mike for the day they met. 

"Well, I've been hired to locate and retrieve two kidnapped children. Finding them probably won't be too difficult but retrieving them, I'm probably gonna need back up, if for no other reason than I can't carry two kids and shoot at the same time. I was wondering if you would back me up on this."

Jesse looked at him and sat down on the futon. "Sure, Mike. You know I'm always... I'll always help you. I can get these kids out. What should I know? What happened?" 

"The father of the children is Tobias Beecher, he's in Oswald Correctional Facility for a hit and run. The man who ordered the kidnapping is suspected to be Vern Schillinger, leader of the Aryan Nation in Oswald. They have a long and bad history that's not really worth getting into. Our focus will be on retrieving Gary and Holly Beecher who were kidnapped on their way to their grandparents from school and taken away in a blue van. They've been missing for days and the kidnappers have mailed Gary’s finger to Beecher."

Jesse stared at him. "Wait. Wait. Wait. Rewind back to they sent him a fucking FINGER?!" 

Mike closed his eyes and nodded solemnly. Of course he was as disgusted and outraged too, he just reigned it in.

"We need to find these kids right now, Mike! They're... they must be terrified." 

Mike nodded. "That's right, Kid. They probably are, which is why the sooner we get a move on the better. But still, you might want to pack a few things. It might take awhile to track them down and we're going way out of town just to see where they were taken from."

"Okay. I should bring some things for them, too. They'll probably need blankets and stuff. Some comforting stuff. How old are they?" Jesse inquired, already standing up and moving to pack his bag. He stuffed a pillow and some blankets in his bag. 

"Six and seven," Mike said, surprised at Jesse's forethought.

"God," Jesse whispered. "Brock's age. We need bottled water... uh, lots of blankets. In case they're in shock, right?"

"Yeah," Mike said with his arms crossed. "They'll probably be in shock."

He'd seen Jesse this serious down in Mexico but it was still strange to him.

"Okay," Jesse threaded his hands together. "So you'll be handling the getting-in part and I can handle the kid part? Cause I was thinking... uhh... I mean, other people they don't know are gonna be asking them to come with. That's probably how it all started."

"Yep, that's the reasonable division of labor. As for the stranger-danger, we might not have a lot of time to convince them. Worst case scenario, each of us runs in, scoops a kid up and carries them to the car. If that's not the case, stay calm and quick about convincing them." Mike said. "But we can talk about that on the drive up there. We should be packing the car."

"Okay," Jesse said with a nod. "I think I've got just about everything I need." He darted around, grabbing more blankets, a case of water, and some of his softest pillows. He also had a bottle of Children's Advil in his cabinet for Brock, so he grabbed that as well. Next were Band-Aids and other bandages, and then he looked at Mike. "Anything else?"  
"I think you've got them covered. We'll grab some light snacks from the store, in case they've been starved."

Jesse nodded. "I can't even imagine. Their father must be freaking out. If that were Brock..." But Jesse couldn't think about that. "Where's their mom? You said they were living at the grandparents'?"

"Their mother committed suicide a while ago," Mike said bluntly, starting to carry the supplies to the car.

Jesse gaped at him. "Jesus Christ, Mike! They didn't... please tell me they didn't find her."

Mike gave a solemn nod.

Jesse stared, blinking. "Good God, Mike. I... jeez, I can... remember finding Jane and what that did to me. But a kid finding someone?"

"Its a terrible thing and it happens far too often," Mike said, wishing he didn't know that. 

He packed the car, checking that there would still be room in the back for the kids.

Jesse poked his head in the back and grinned at the older man.

"You sure they won't laugh at your grandpa-mobile, Mike?" he teased. "To them it'll be like a horse and buggy."

"Hey," Mike said, feigning seriousness. "Don't mock this car. This car has made more getaway escapes than those little sports cars will ever see."

He shut the door and walked to the driver's side.

Jesse grinned. "I don't doubt that." He hopped into the passenger's seat. "So how far away are we going, anyway?" 

"Clear across the country, Kid," Mike said buckling his seatbelt. "Traveling Northeast for about 16 hours, and that's if traffic is good."

“I didn't know you were national, Mike."

"Yeah, I'm a nationwide phenomenon, Jesse. Haven't you heard?" Mike said, pulling out of the driveway.

"Well, you're the best. But on a serious note, how are you doing?" Jesse asked, gesturing towards Mike's gunshot wound.

"I'm okay," Mike replied, surprised to have it brought up. The only one that used to ask about his injuries on the job was Gus. "Thanks...Hey, isn't there a call you need to make?"

Jesse groaned. "He's not gonna be happy. At all."

"You want me to make the call?" Mike asked, honestly offering.

"Nah... I gotta fight my own battles, Mike," Jesse told him. "I gotta stand up to him." He sighed, picked up the phone, and hit the entry for "Mr. White".

Mike felt oddly proud, smirking as he kept his eyes on the road.

The phone rang three times in Jesse's ear before he finally got an answer.

"Hey, Mr. White," he started in. "I'm not gonna be back for a few days."

"What? What are you talking about? Jesse, We have to cook."

"I'm doing a job for Mike. It's really important. And come on, Mr. White, you can cook on your own for a couple of days. You've done it before. You don't need me," Jesse told him.

"Mike? A job? What kind of job? Is it related to our business? We are all equal partners in this and if something's going on I have a right to know!" 

"It's nothing to do with you, Mr. White. We're just going to get some guy's kids. Nothing you'd be interested in." 

"If it doesn't have to do with me and the business then why are you going?! I'm NOT going through this again with you, Jesse. Mike picking you up and taking you from the lab at any time of the day. We have work to do and YES I can cook by myself, but it still takes longer and puts us behind schedule. And why the hell are you two going to help some random man's kids. That's got nothing to do with you, Jesse!"

"Jesus Christ, Mr. White." Jesse held the phone away from his ear for fear he'd get a headache. "We're partners three ways and so Mike and me, uh, voted and uh so you're outvoted and I'm going. Mike needs me on this and, uh, these kids need me too. I won't be gone that long and... ah... like I said Mr. White, you can do it on your own. You can dock my pay or whatever. You still owe me for that advance so I dunno, keep some of it." 

"I-bu-PUT MIKE ON THE PHONE!"

"No, Mr. White. Listen... Listen to me. Okay. You've got a son, right? Okay... listen, if someone... uhhh kidnapped your son and cut off his finger, before you blew up the entire world you'd want someone to go get the rest of him, right?" Jesse tried to reason. 

"Yes, but-" Walter paused. Considering that bad things happening to children were what turned Jesse against Gus, now might not be the best time to appear insensitive to the lives of children. "Fine. But it's coming out of your paycheck."

"Thank you so much, Mr. White," Jesse decided not to blow it while he was on top. "I'll be back as soon as I can. Take care of yourself okay?"

"Yeah," Walt said and hung up, still peeved about losing the argument.

Jesse looked over at Mike with a grin.

"Oh yeah. There we go. One two three - and played."

"Good job, Kid," Mike said, glad that he didn't have to deal with Walter blowing his top.

Jesse grinned at the praise.

"So what's our plan when we figure out where they are? I mean how are we even gonna find out who took 'em?"

"We'll be looking into Schillinger's Aryan connections in the area first. If that doesn't work out, we'll look at family he's got in the area, and beyond that we'll just have to scavenge looking for people who would kidnap for hire."

"Do people really do that?" Jesse asked with wide eyes. "I mean, who kidnaps some little kids just to get paid?"

"Scumbags, Jesse. Low life scumbags," Mike replied with a shake of his head. "Of course, if you're in that kind of business. Most have the common sense not to injure the children and especially not to remove fingers. I get the feeling these aren't professionals."

"Yeah, I mean..." Jesse said, "It's a little different than, y'know, making off with some rich guy's baby to get money from him and then returning the kid unharmed. That's still bad and scary but this... this is... I mean, do they even want money? Or is it just a... screwed up revenge thing? You said these guys have a history?"

"Mhm," Mike hummed. "It's a revenge type thing and that doesn't bode well for these kids. You might need to prepare yourself because we don't know the conditions they've been living in, or if anything else has happened to them right now."

Jesse nodded. "I mean, best-case scenario a kid only has nine fingers. I'm going to try my hardest to not pass the fuck out over that." 

Mike nodded too and growled, "Sick fucks."

It was the only emotional reaction he'd given to the situation thus far.

Jesse actually looked a little nervous at Mike outwardly showing emotion. "We're gonna get them back, though. And then this guy... he can see them and hug them, tell him he loves 'em." 

Mike took a breath. "Yeah, that's right, Kid." 

"And they'll both be okay," Jesse said. "If he loves them. If it were my parents... jeez, they'd probably just tell me it was my fault I got napped."

Mike glanced at him. "But you'd know that it wasn't your fault, right?" 

Jesse shook his head. "Not if I was six or seven, I wouldn't. Hell, even now, having gotten kidnapped by Tuco... Shit. I blamed myself for that. That I didn't fight when he showed up, that I took him to Mr. White. That Mr. White could've gotten sicker or died or something." 

Mike was quiet for a moment. "Jesse, the kidnapping is always the fault of the kidnapper. A kidnapping can't happen if there's not someone out there to commit it." 

"With kids, yeah. Y'know. Or innocent people. With me... shit, I was a sitting duck for Tuco back then. Mr. White blamed me for all of it and yeah, I didn't... ah, you know... just... I didn't. But it's cool. That stuff's water under the bridge."

Mike kept his eyes on the road but in his heart he felt a deep sort of sadness on Jesse's behalf. The Kid was more messed up than he'd ever realized. And although Jesse had only mentioned Walter's name in passing, he still felt better for getting Jesse away from that man for even a few days. 

Jesse looked out the window. "I'll be sure to tell 'em, you know."

"That it wasn't their fault?"

"Yeah," Jesse said. "That it wasn't some... lesson in how they screwed up, or how they can't trust people. I want them to trust." 

"That's good...They should know that," Mike said vaguely. 

Jesse nodded. He moved to stare out the window with a sigh. "I hope this Beecher guy appreciates what we're doing for him."


	2. Chapter 2

Tobias Beecher at that moment was, in fact, staring at the bottom bunk which housed his podmate, Chris Keller.

"I can't sleep, Chris. Stop telling me to try and sleep!"

"Toby, you have to try. You look dead on your feet around here. I thought you were gonna drop dead in the gym," Chris said, staring up at him.

Toby shook his head. "You think my kids are sleeping? I can't stay here and just... I can't. Not 'til they're okay, Chris. Please try and understand. My kids are all I have left. God... If Gen were still...." 

"Toby, not sleeping isn't going to help them," Chris said soothingly. "And your wife..."

Chris trailed off, figuring what he was about to say would more likely enrage his podmate than comfort him.

"Chris... I just..." Toby put his head into his hands. "You know as well as I do that this was Schillinger. Hell, he even warned me - threatened me! When I was first in here he said... God, Chris, he basically told me he'd have his sons rape Gen and Holly! And now some psycho connected with him has my kids?" He started pacing so hard he could have borne holes into the floor, concrete as it was. He had to hope against hope that this guy Saul had connected him with knew what he was doing. 

Chris rolled out of bed and stood up, carefully blocking Toby's pacing path and gripping his shoulders. "Toby, Toby, stop. Schillinger's gonna burn for this, alright? I'll make sure of it. But right now, you've got to do what's best for your kids. That means making sure the FBI gets off their asses and looks in the right places, and making sure that you don't drop dead from stress and exhaustion. When they come back, they're gonna need you alive." 

Toby shuddered hard. "What are they even going to be like after this, Chris? I mean they're already... They already must be so hurt after finding Gen. Now this? I just wish I could get that bastard Schillinger and just the same I wish he'd have killed me instead." He sighed, leaning in to Chris and trying not to cry. "They're trying to tell me it was you, Chris."

Chris instinctively wrapped his arms around Toby. He still couldn't keep the shock out of his voice when he processed that last sentence. "They what?!" 

"They think it's you." Toby whimpered at the words. "They think it's some... game you're playing with me. But you wouldn't...." He looked up into Chris' eyes. "You wouldn't have someone hurt my son." 

"Those stupid motherfuckers," Chris hissed, working hard to reign in his fury. "Of course I'd never do anything to hurt your kids, Toby. I love you," he said and pressed a chaste kiss on his cheek. "And once they're back, safe and sound in your arms, those agents will be eating shit for thinking I ever would."

He moved his hands to hold Toby's face as he looked at him. "Okay?"

Toby nodded, wrapping his arms around Chris tightly. He didn't care if the hacks saw, if they told him to break it up. He probably wouldn't even hear them. He just needed Chris so badly right now.

"I love you too. Don't... don't ever let go of me."

"Ahh Toby," Chris said, pressing his face into Toby's neck. Now wasn't really the time, but it felt like it had been so long. He held Toby tightly and experimentally kissed his neck, ready to back down if Toby pushed him away like he had so many times before. 

This time, Toby didn't. He couldn't. He needed something to take his mind off this awful thing, this horrible thing. Something that would let him sleep.

He began to consider, maybe this time he would let Chris do it. He hadn't done that since Schillinger, had been too afraid, too defensive. But maybe this time. 

Chris inwardly rejoiced when Toby didn't push him away. He kissed his way back to Toby's lips. Pausing to murmur again, "Toby, I love you. It's gonna be okay."

He wrapped his arms around Toby again, lower this time, around his hips.

"It's gonna be okay," Toby echoed softly. He slowly moved in to sit on the bunk, to keep away from prying eyes. "Chris. I want you. I trust you."

Chris let out a soft moan as he leaned over Toby and kissed him again slow, but passionate.

Toby kissed back, submitting, giving himself over to Chris.

Chris eased himself onto the bed, gently nudging Toby to lay on his back.

Toby let Chris guide him, feeling more open, more vulnerable than ever before.

Chris kissed a trail down Toby's neck as he rolled his podmate's undershirt up and over his head. He was much quicker about ditching his own shirt before going back to his trail and kissing his way down to Toby's boxers.

"Chris," Toby whispered, putting a hand on the other man's head. "I know you're not... the first but... you... sort of are." 

Chris went on kissing at Toby's navel, lifting his head slightly to look at him. "I'll be real careful," Chris murmured against Toby's skin.

"Mmmmmmm...." All Toby could do was moan. It felt so safe to be with Chris, but so dangerous too. Maybe that was what he loved most about him. "You won't hurt me." It wasn't a plea but a statement. A hopeful statement. 

"That's right, Toby," Chris replied, pulling Beecher's boxers off. "I won't hurt you."

He slipped the head of Toby's dick into his mouth and licked lightly. 

Toby let his eyes slip shut. "Oh, Chris," he whispered. He wanted Chris to never stop touching him, ever. To touch him everywhere and to make him forget everything about this horrible place. 

Chris didn't want to rush it, but he thought the hacks breaking them up would be a bigger mood killer than rushing. He took Toby a little deeper and sucked, hollowing his cheeks. Then he reached a hand down to stroke himself as well. 

"Chris," Toby hissed, thrusting forward into his podmate's mouth. "I want..." He breathed hard. "Will you fuck me, Chris? Please fuck me..." 

Chris let Toby thrust and he went on sucking. He was so hard. He pulled off. "I will, ahh Toby, you know I will if that's what you want."

He slipped two fingers into his mouth and sucked them.

Toby nodded. "Chris... I want... I want it to be you. I want it to be like it was only ever you. I want... want you to take me, to own me."

"Toby!" Chris exclaimed in a whisper. "Do you have any idea what you do to me? Saying things like that? Breath...okay, relax."

He circled the outside of Toby's entrance before starting to push one in.

Toby clenched against the invading digit at first, his body no doubt conjuring up memories of the brutal sessions with Schillinger. 

Chris winced and leaned over and kissed Toby's belly. "Come on, Toby...we don't have much time. It's me...it won't hurt I promise."

Toby took a deep breath and let it out. "I'm sorry, Chris... I'm trying." He breathed a few more times and slowly unclenched, letting Chris in. 

Chris winced again. He hadn't meant to make Toby apologize. "It's okay. There we go..."

He practiced one finger in and out for about a minute. It wasn't nearly long enough, but he was already starting to work on finger two, squeezing it through. 

Toby whimpered, but relaxed again. He couldn't tell whether the pressure felt good or bad, so he focused on Chris' eyes instead. "I love you." 

Chris looked back at him.

"I love you too, Toby. I want to make you feel so good."

He went on working his fingers and started licking his other hand to slick up his cock. He hoped it would be enough. The last thing he wanted was to hurt Toby, not while he was so vulnerable, so trusting at last.

Toby watched him, trying to relax. He knew that spit-lube wasn't going to completely ease the way, so he was going to have to take care to accept Chris' cock inside him. He took in a huge drink of air and then let it go. "I just want you inside me," he admitted, "Even if it hurts."

"Shhh, don't worry about it hurting," Chris soothed, working his fingers right up until he felt his cock was wet enough.

He pulled his fingers out and positioned himself over Toby.

"Yeah, Chris... please," Toby whispered, looking up and giving him a nod that came straight from his heart. 

Chris looked Toby in the eye as he slowly entered him.

Toby let out a cry. He kept breathing, slowly accepting Chris inside, but he was a lot bigger than Toby had really been expecting. He seemed to fill Toby to his core. 

Chris pressed his lips against Toby's in an effort to smother the cry. He stayed very still, praying that Toby could relax.

Toby kissed him back, then gently whispered into his mouth, "Talk to me?" He rolled his head slowly to the side and began to relax. It still hurt, still felt like it was too much jammed into too small a spot, but just the same the thrill, the rush of it being Chris stopped him from calling quits. 

"Okay...It's okay Toby..." Chris said taking a few deep breaths himself because it felt so good and he was trying very hard not to move, not to cause Toby pain. "Damn you're tight! I love this, being inside you like this...So close to you."

"Oooooohhhhhhh," Toby breathed out, relaxing a little bit more. "Yes... Please." He grabbed Chris' back and dug his nails in. "You belong inside me." There were tears in his eyes. "You fill me."

That did it, Chris had to move. He leaned over Toby and gave a rather hard thrust. "So deep and tight. Toby, you're so tight down there for me. You're mine aren't you? Tell me you're mine."

It burned, but it burned so good and washed everything else out of Toby's mine. "Yours... always yours, Chris. I love you. So much. I belong to you." 

"Toby!" Chris moaned, thrusting hard again. "Love you. Mine...you're mine. No one's ever gonna take you from me or hurt you again."

"Chris...." Toby dug his nails in harder and started to move to meet Chris' thrusts. "Love you forever... Nothing's gonna take you from me... All I need is you... Fuck me, please. Fuck me so hard." 

Chris didn't need to be told twice and he just lost all restraint he had in him, thrusting fast and hard.

Toby held on for dear life. "Yeah..." He gasped. "I want... Cum in me, Chris... Claim me... Please... Always yours... wanna always be yours!"

Chris let out a deep growl, burying his head in Toby's chest for a moment as he just moved, in and out desperately, needing him, wanting him, wanting every inch of Toby to know that he was his. He could feel an orgasm mounting.

"Wanna feel this for weeks! So good, Chris - so good! I'm your Toby... Always! No one else's!" Toby cried out. 

Toby! Chris wasn't sure if he yelled or thought that as he came hard, bucking wildly inside of Toby.

Toby whined, holding Chris as close as he could. He savored the feeling of Chris' cum inside him, picturing it washing away all the hurt and pain that had been rolling around down there when it was Schillinger pounding his ass every night.

"I love you," Toby whispered.

There was a sharp knock on the glass.

"Break it up!" came the loud voice of C.O. Claire Howell. 

"Toby..." Chris rasped, dazed in the aftermath of his climax.

He glanced at Claire with a dazed look though he meant to glare. Fucking hack....

"Mmmmmm...." Toby purred, keeping his arms around Chris. "We're done. Show's over." He let out a shrill little laugh.

Claire banged on the glass again.

"How sweet!" she declared. "Beecher, you have your own bunk. Get there."

Toby rolled his eyes and very reluctantly slipped Chris out of him. He took a few shaky steps towards hoisting himself up on the top bunk. 

"Toby," Chris whined as Toby slipped away and back up to his top bunk, though it was certainly better than one of them ending up in the hole. 

Toby leaned down from his bunk to look at Chris, as Claire moved on to go harass somebody else.

"I love you, Chris... Thank... thank you."

"I love you too, Toby," Chris said. "I'm always gonna be here, okay?"

"Okay," Toby whispered back. "I don't know what I would be doing if you weren't here. I just wish I knew what was going on. Where they are. If they're okay. "

“I know Toby.. I know....”


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter Three

"So, Mike. A suggestion. Next time we're going to go this far... we should fly. And rent a car. I think I'm going to die from boredom." Jesse pressed his face against the window and yawned. 

"Nothing beats a good road trip, Kid. You can sleep if you want, miss all this beautiful desert at night scenery and the sunrise," Mike said with a smile. "Plus, I've got sandwiches in the back. Beats airplane food by a mile."

Jesse rolled his eyes.

"Yeah, if you say so. I'm just crawling out of my skin. I've never really done anything like this before. What do we do if we go in and... have you done this before? Maybe I should just ask what you've done, y'know, in the past."

"Well," Mike said, thinking about it. "You can ask, but every situation is different. First off, it's usually best to be as quiet and calm as possible. Of course that won't matter if they see us coming and it turns into a gunfight right away. Second, the trick is to spot the enemy first, so keep your eyes open at all times, especially around corners. Third, this is a essentially a rescue or recovery mission. We don't want them in the crossfire so as soon as you can, find something safe to huddle behind until you can all make a break for it. That's about all I can do with no specifics."

"So, what if the guys who have them take off? Are you going to go off after them to take them out or is it more important to just get the kids and go? And what do we do next? We can't exactly just roll into a police station with them given our, uh, police difficulties," Jesse continued. 

"The kids are top priority. After we recover them, we'll see what condition they’re in before making our next move. Believe it or not, Kid, I don't always have it planned to the T."

"You shock me, Mike," Jesse teased. "Anyway, tell me about Beecher. Maybe we can figure out a suspect list before I pass out from cabin fever."

"Not much to tell. He's in prison because he was driving drunk and hit a kid who was riding her bike."

Jesse stared at him. "That's horrible! I mean... jeez. He must feel awful. And that little kid... Mike, I couldn't even..." 

"It's pretty horrible and he's serving a long time for it. In the meantime, he had the misfortune to get tangled up by a leader of the Aryan Nation in Oz, Vern Schillinger. I don't think I need to tell you what can happen to a guy in prison with no rep and no protection, especially a lawyer from a wealthy family. He was subjected a long list of awful things, including getting a Nazi sign burned into his ass-cheek."

Jesse's eyes widened. "But that wasn't enough? He had to go after this guy's kids too?"

"Well, Beecher fueled the fire a bit too. He broke some glass which scarred Schillinger's eye, he shit on the man, and he's suspected to be involved in Andrew Schillinger's, Vern's son's, death. Heroin overdose, but rumor is Vern gave him the heroin."

"Wait, but if his father gave him the heroin, then how is it Beecher's fault?" Jesse scratched his head. "This is all making me really goddamned glad I'm not in... wait, he shit on him? Like... legitimately shit... on him?" 

Mike nodded. "Apparently Beecher was rooming with Andrew and they were getting too chummy for Vern's liking. So they say. No concrete evidence on that. But the shitting, that's on record."

"Chummy as in... gay chummy?" Jesse inquired. "Jeez. And I thought Jane's dad was harsh on me."

Mike shook his head. "Anyway, most likely the kidnapping was ordered by Schillinger as revenge for Andrew."

Jesse looked at him grimly. "A son for a son?"

"That doesn't account for his daughter."

Jesse sighed and pressed his fingers against his temple. "I guess he wanted to hold that over him, too. Now, does this... Schillinger guy... He have any other kids? Or a brother or something?"

"Yeah, he just reconnected with another son of his, Hank Schillinger, real charmer. Beecher was paying Hank to come visit his dear old Daddy, but he didn't tell Vern about it. Secret good deed or something."

"You think that's our guy? I mean, he'd probably be in on it if he thinks Beecher's to blame for his brother dying," Jesse pointed out. 

"Hank's no angel," Mike said. "And he's definitely on the list of suspects. But this isn't really his style. I mean, his record shows that he runs a small prostitution ring, some drugs every now and then, but kidnapping is a whole different arena. As for revenge, he's not exactly a fan of his dad, and I don't know how close he was to his brother. I'm thinking that if anything, his motive would be monetary, but there's no ransom note."

Mike stroked his chin, keeping one hand on the wheel.

"Not yet," Jesse replied. "I don't know. I just feel like it's this guy. I mean, what would anybody who's not in the guy's immediate family get out of this? Whatever Beecher did was against Vern personality, not the whole damn Aryan... whatever. Why risk going to jail forever because somebody else got screwed over?"

"Money," Mike repeated, "which I suppose Vern might have stashed somewhere. I mean it's not like he's gonna buy a yacht in Oz. He could pay someone, within or outside of the Aryan Nation, to get the job done...That said, he might have paid his son...It'd be a stupid move though, risking his own kid's freedom for vengeance, but as we know he's already not father of the year so maybe. There's a lot of variables involved, Kid. You're saying your gut tells you it's Hank?"

"Yeah. Didn't you say professionals normally won't harm a hostage? It's probably an amateur. So it's the son. Plus I don't really trust anybody named Hank," Jesse admitted.

Mike laughed.

"Yeah, Walt's brother-in-law didn't help with that, did he?"

"Not at all," Jesse agreed with an instinctive wince. "So, hey, what's the toughest job you ever took?"

"Hmmm, I'd tell you, but then I'd have to kill you," Mike joked. "What is it with you all of a sudden? You want to write my memoirs for me?"

"Well, I'm stuck in a car with you for a few days... and you're interesting."

"Me? The old guy you rode around with every day for over a month. You still think I'm interesting?" 

Jesse grinned. "If I didn't, I'd have killed myself a few states ago."

Mike smiled and shook his head.

"Yeah, well it's your turn to talk. You won't get a single story out of me until you share one. What's your happiest moment with Walter? I'm assuming you have one, because I gotta say I don't have any."

Jesse laughed. "Jeez. Okay. Ummm.... we cooked this one time for four days straight. That was nice until it went to shit."

Mike laughed.

"That's not a story. Tell me about the good part of it."

Jesse thought about it.

"It was hot, but it didn't matter. We were just... working, cooking you know. The time just flew. We were like clockwork. And then... well, we were finished. And there was this weird finality to it, y'know? Like Mr. White was just... done. And it felt like we were ending on this good note. We high-fived, talked about getting two hotel rooms. Denny's, to celebrate." 

"That sounds nice...I'm guessing you never made it to Denny's?"

"No," Jesse looked out the window. "I'd accidentally left the keys in the ignition and the battery burnt out. We almost died."

"That's a shame," Mike said. "At least you're alive."

"I was gonna go out walking on my own," Jesse recalled, "But he stopped me. Told me I was... uhh... running low on electrolytes. That I'd die."

"He saved your life,hm? Well, from what I've seen, you've more than repaid the favor. Some of these arguments Walter and I have," Mike smiled and shook his head. "He's lucky he's got you on his side."

Jesse laughed. "You two are like cats and dogs. But no... I do owe Mr. White for a lot. I tried to take care of him when I can..." 

"I know you do."

Jesse tilted his head to the side. "You gonna tell me one of yours now?"

Mike nodded. Fair was fair.

"What do you wanna hear?" Mike asked, pretending he was old and couldn't remember what Jesse had asked for twenty minutes ago.

Jesse laughed and looked at Mike.

"Your hardest job! Jeez Mike, quit stalling."

"Alright,alright," Mike conceded. "Well, there was this guy I had to track down and make sure he didn't testify against us in court. Now in case no one's told you this, witness protection is generally pretty shitty. Usually I would have had this guy down in a day, but he was smart and took his protection into his own hands. Months, Jesse. I spent months stealing security camera footage, tracking cars spying on everybody the guy knew. I mean, I was gonna be in deep shit with the guys I worked for if I couldn't find this guy before the trial. Well, finally we pinned him down to some cabin. He'd gone all Rambo on us and was deep in the mountains with a lot of heavy weaponry and more than a few booby traps. I almost stepped on a land mine out there. I mean, this guy was the real deal. Anyway, after a week of cat and mouse on the mountainside, one of my guys got a clear shot and took it. I always wish I could have taken the bastard out my self, but I settle for knowing that I found him and survived the whole ordeal." 

Jesse's eyes went wide. "I think I like this one better," he admitted. "This time we're the good guys."

Mike smirked. "We're the good guys who are kidnapping the kids from kidnappers to return them to their father who is in prison."

"The kids will be safe with us," Jesse said, "That's the difference. Safe and... he can see them again. Hug them."

"I know, Jesse. I was just pulling your leg...Are you hungry?"

Jesse dragged a hand over his face. "Sorry. I guess the tired is getting to me. Yeah, I'm starving. You?"

"Yeah. Reach back there and grab the cooler, will ya?"

Jesse looked at him. "Are these more of those weird sandwiches you're into?"

"Weird? No. Delicious? Yes. Way better for you then those snacks you’re into. Funyons?"

"Yeah, well, we're still stopping off for Funyons before we get there. If I'd been kidnapped I'd want Funyons."

Mike laughed.

"I'll keep that in mind." 

Jesse reached back and grabbed the cooler, lugging it over to his side.

"So... have you un-kidnapped people before?"

"Yeah, but not often. Rescue missions aren't common in the criminal underworld. As a P.I and a cop, yeah there were a few. Not many were successful. But I think we've got a real shot at recovering these kids, Jesse."

"I sure as hell hope so," Jesse admitted. "If I get there and they're dead, just warning you, I'm gonna lose my shit. You'll probably be scraping me off the walls."

"Hey, I didn't bring you along so you could die. I'd never hear the end of it from Walter." 

Jesse laughed. "I was speaking in the more emotional sense. But... yeah, I guess Mr. White would be a little angry. He'd have to cook all on his own." 

"Don't do that either. Walter would be going around saying I purposely traumatized you."

Mike reached into the cooler and pulled out a sandwich, didn't matter which one. He unwrapped it with one hand and took a bite.

"Hmmm, Salami." 

Jesse grabbed another sandwich and unwrapped it as well. "Like he doesn't traumatize me all the time."

"He sure acts like he doesn't," Mike said between bites. "I just hope he doesn't do anything to screw over the guys we're working with."

"Yeah, well," Jesse replied, taking a bite, "You know how he operates."

"That's why I'm concerned."

"Nah... He can have sense talked to him sometimes," Jesse said, looking out the window briefly. "So this is Missouri, huh? Exciting." He turned back to Mike. "I think I have an idea. What if, when we recover the kids... we could drop them at a police station and say they waved us down? Then leave real quick. On America's Most Wanted this little girl escaped from somewhere and she waved down a truck driver and, like, jumped in his truck." 

Mike chuckled.

"You watch a lot of TV, Kid. That's not too bad an idea I guess. But we're not truckers and people will wonder why we're so far from New Mexico."

Jesse considered it. "Maybe we were visiting some folks up north. Or maybe we wanted to go out, party, and sleep with women." 

"Because I look like the sort of guy that drives hundreds of miles to go out, party, and sleep with women," Mike said, dripping sarcasm.

"Well, I do," Jesse said with a grin. "Okay... What about... job hunting? Ain't shit in New Mexico, decided to go up and see what's going on in Chicago. We have to come up with something because if we don't drop these kids off then we're the ones kidnapping them and hell if I know how to maintain that. I mean... or... drop them off at the prison anonymously?" 

"Job hunting it is. Prison might be a safer drop off than the house," Mike said, balling up the plastic now that he'd finished a whole sandwich. "The house is probably being watched why officers, but think about it, do you really want to stop up the road from a prison and make the kids walk there?"

"I'll walk them in," Jesse volunteered. "No one up here would know anything about anything I'm involved with. I'll just tell them we were driving, the kids flagged us down and the kids might logically have given us the prison's name, right? I mean, if you knew nothing about these kids, wouldn't you just ask, 'hey, so where do your mom and dad live?' And well... Yeah."

"It's a risk, Jesse,"Mike insisted. "We'll get there and see how it goes."

"I can swing it, Mike," Jesse told him, "Just trust me. Though I had another idea." He looked at Mike with a sheepish grin.

"Full of ideas today, aren't you?"

Jesse flushed. "Yeah. I guess. I was... uh... well, if they asked us why we were were all the way up here, we could hint that, uh, we were, erm... together."

"Together?" Mike asked, then a huge grin broke over his face. "As in together? That's real cute, Kid, but they wouldn't believe us for a second."

"Oh, they wouldn't? Mr. White thinks we are." Jesse grinned cheekily.

"Does he now?" Mike said with a smirk. "I guess all those long loving stares gave us away."

Jesse giggled nervously. "He totally asked me one time. He said... he said, 'when you're out with Mike, what are you doing? Fucking?'" Jesse was as red as a tomato. 

Mike laughed hard.

"I think he's just projecting," Mike said. "He wishes he could have that ass of yours."

He glanced over at Jesse, surprised to see him blush like that and it dawned on him that maybe Walt wasn't the only one with that on his mind.

"Ok, maybe it's not that ridiculous of an assumption."

Jesse very slowly let a nervous smile appear on his face.

"Have you ever... uh... done anything like that, Mike?"

"Well...no," Mike admitted. "But then again, I've never met anyone like you, Kid."

Jesse's heart clenched. "I..." He didn't know what to say. "You... you don't mean that Mike."

"Now, Kid," Mike said seriously. "Do I make it a habit to say things I don't mean?"

Jesse shook his head. "But, I mean... someone like... like you, feeling that way about me. That's...I mean..."

Mike was surprised. He'd never thought of himself as being on a pedestal or being particularly good. "What do you mean someone like me?"

"I mean," Jesse said, "you're not scared of anything. So tough. Fearless. Smart. And hot to boot." He looked out the window again.

Now it was Mike's turn to blush, a deep shade of red. "You really think I'm all that?"

Jesse grinned. "'All that' is one way to put it."

"Ahhh, Kid. But you know, I still meant what I said. For you, I'd give it a shot."

Jesse couldn't look at him. "Maybe when this job is done... we could see?"

"Yeah," Mike said, eyes on the road. "I'd like that."

Jesse smiled. He looked forward to that.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning: Rape threat in this chapter. (Three guesses from who.)

Toby still couldn't sleep, was still pacing. He felt more helpless than he had when he'd been roped to his bunk by Schillinger.

Kareem Said approached Beecher and Keller's pod with more than a hint of wariness. He felt compelled to comfort the grieving father somehow, but his past attempts were obstructed by Keller. He knocked on the glass.

Beecher looked up, brightening slightly when he saw Said. He turned to him and bowed his head. "Peace be upon you."

"As-salamu alykum," Said greeted in return. He opened the door, mildly relieved to find Keller absent. "How are you holding up in this difficult time, Beecher?"

"I'm not," Beecher admitted. "I'm not sleeping or eating... I'm... everything hurts."

"Beecher, I cannot imagine the magnitude of your grief or worry. In times like these, many people turn to their faith. I have prayed long and hard for the safe return of your children. And I can't explain why, but I have the utmost confidence that Allah will deliver them back to you." 

"Thank you, Said," Beecher told him quietly. "I... I want to try to pray. I just... don't feel like I, myself, deserve anything. It's my fault they're in this situation and I feel so lost. But my children are innocent."

"You can say all of that in your prayers, Beecher. We are all unworthy of his blessings in some way or another. But we can humble ourselves before him, and ask his forgiveness and mercy for ourselves, for your children. They deserve your prayers."

Beecher lowered his head. "Would you help me pray, Said?"

Said moved nearer to him. "Yes, of course my friend."

Beecher slumped in relief. There was something about Said that he didn't understand - the power around the man, the way he made him feel something, like some greater presence had penetrated the walls of Oz through him. 

Said assumed his prayer position and waited for Beecher to join him.

Beecher slid down next to him. His breathing was so ragged, and his thoughts were painful, troubled. He wondered where his kids were now, if they were being treated with any kind of decency at all. If they knew he was out there, wanting them home and safe. 

Said looked over at Beecher and felt a deep sympathy for what the man must be enduring. He debated whether to stop and comfort him or whether to pray and reluctantly went with the later. It seemed insulting to ask him to stop grieving in a situation so dire. 

Beecher closed his eyes, leaning forward, letting the emotion overtake him. In that moment, he felt it as strongly as he had when they had told him they'd gotten the finger in the mail. 

"Allahu Akbar, Allahu Akbar," Said said, as composed as he could be for Beecher's sake.

Something inside Beecher repeated the words, or at least the motions - he couldn't be sure. But something about Said, about the presence around him, made him trust that God would bring his children home. Or at least that that strange, so serious man would. 

Said continued to pray, feeling again that odd certainty that Allah would return Beecher's children to him alive. So deep in prayer was he that he missed the entrance of Chris Keller.

Chris frowned deeply and leaned against the door frame. "Toby, you should be resting. Isn't that what you promised me you would do? Catch some shut-eye?"

"Chris," Beecher said, eyes still closed, "Just give me a little while, okay? I'll sleep in a little bit."

Chris glared contemptuously at Said, who also kept his eyes closed and pointedly ignored him.

"You've got half an hour, and then I want you gone Said."

Beecher breathed out again. He knew Chris meant well, but his jealousy was rather unwelcome right now. He needed all the help he could get. 

***

Vern Schillinger was feeling pretty good about his plan. He had Beecher right where he wanted him; there was nothing that little prag could do to stop him now. He'd be sure to draw this out as long as he could. Hell, Beecher had certainly relished in what had happened to Andy. It was just what he deserved.

Schillinger tossed a piece of mail into a cell. Goddamn annoying ass job, but he did it well. 

Meanwhile, Chris lingered over the railing outside their pod, reluctant to leave but not wanting to listen to them or see them move in perfect synchronization. Toby wouldn't eat for him. Wouldn't sleep for him. Yet Said comes along and gets him to pray.

Schillinger chose that moment to slide into Emerald City, pushing his mail cart.

"Hey, Keller," he snarled. "You got a magazine. Come get it."

"Why don't you bring it here? Ain't that your job?" Chris snarled back.

"I don't know," Schillinger retorted, "Bitcher's been getting some pretty strange mail lately. Don't know if this is more of the same, if you catch my drift." 

"What the fuck does that mean?" Chris said, raising himself to full height and stalking over. "What have you got, Schillinger? Because so help me God, if you send Beecher so much as a lock of hair to fuck with him, your son's going to be pulling pieces of you out of packages!"

Schillinger's lips curled up into a smile. "I haven't sent Beecher anything. Don't know what you're getting so angry about. I saw that picture of his daughter, though. She's pretty, isn't she? Sure whoever DID take those kids is having a lot of fun with her."

"SON OF A BITCH!" Chris shouted, punching Schillinger square in the face. "You give Beecher's kids back, you Nazi fuck! You give them back or I'll cut off your cock!"

Well, there was no faster way to get the CO's coming.

Said stopped praying and walked over to the glass.

Schillinger stepped back, laughing even as he reeled from the punch. He put his hands up.

"I don't have 'em, Keller! I'm looking forward to checking Beecher's mail tomorrow, though!"

Chris reached for Schillinger's throat but just barely scratched it as the CO's pulled him off of him. 

"Motherfucker! Beecher's kids better be okay, you cocksucker!"

"Well!" Schillinger retorted, "His son will be doing a good job of counting to nine, won't he?" He tilted back his head and laughed again. 

"FUCK YOU!" Chris shouted as he was carried away. If he could break free just for a second he'd deck Schillinger again just to make sure his nose would break.

Beecher left his pod to peek over the edge, looking sadly at Chris. He didn't need Chris in the hole now, he needed him here, but something about his willingness to attack Schillinger made him feel warmer, safer.

Schillinger continued along his mail rounds, making his way up to the pod where Beecher and Said were.

"Here's some mail, Said," he commented, tossing it on the ground. 

Said looked profoundly unamused and did not reach to pick it up.

Schillinger leaned in to smile at Beecher.

"No mail for you today, Beecher. Too bad. I was really hoping that you'd get another package."

Said placed a hand on Beecher's shoulder, as much to restrain himself as it was to restrain Beecher winding up in the hole as well.

Beecher took a deep breath, remembering what the private investigator had told him. He said nothing.

Schillinger smirked.

"I'll let you know if anything exciting comes in the mail tomorrow. I'm definitely looking forward to it." He pushed his cart along. Next pod up was the O'Reilys. Maybe he could get a few jabs in on Cyril.

Said was mildly impressed that Beecher kept his composure and removed his hand. "Shall we continue to pray?"

"Said... wait," Beecher told him, "Could I... could we talk for a little while? Please."

"Okay," Said replied, stepping back into the pod and closing the door.

"Said," Beecher said softly, "Give it to me straight. If Gary and Holly... if they make it... will they ever be... okay again?"

"I'm not a psychologist, Beecher," Said told him. "But I know that human beings can survive incredible odds. I believe that they can make it through their past experiences when this is over. That's not to say that they'll fully recover...but I think they will be 'okay' with time, patience and their father's love."

Beecher moved to rub the tears from his eyes. "I'll always love them," he promised. "After this... I'll try to see them more. Try and... and remind them. Right now I just want to hug them again. To hear their voices. I'm just... so afraid that when I see them, see Gary especially, I'll just break down."

"Beecher, I believe with everything in me that you'll have the strength to face them and help make them whole again," Said assured him.

Beecher swallowed hard, his tears caught in his throat. He reached out and hugged Said to him, just needing to touch someone friendly, someone safe. 

Said was surprised, and slightly conflicted, but he brushed it aside in an instant. Tobias was a good friend in need of comfort. He hugged him back, patting his back lightly.

It took Beecher a while to pull himself back.

"Thank... thank you, Said," he said softly. "I feel... a little better now."

"Anything that helps, Tobias," Said said, feeling odd for using his first name.

Beecher smiled sadly. "You... can head back to your pod if you want. I wanted to spend a little bit of time alone right now."

"Of course, Beecher. You know where I am if you need me."

Beecher reached out and took Said's hand, squeezing it. "Thank you again. Peace be upon you."

"And to you."

Said squeezed his hand back and let go as he left.

Beecher slumped against Keller's bunk. He was totally lost. What the hell could he do now? He just had to hope that the man he'd hired, the man whose name he didn't even know, knew what the hell he was doing...


	5. Chapter 5

"I hesitate to say this, but are we there yet?" Jesse inquired, pressing his nose against the window and making it fog up as he breathed on it. 

"Don't make me gag you," Mike warned.

Jesse let out a giggle. "That sounds very dirty, Mike."

“Go to sleep, Kid.”

Jesse shook his head. "I can never sleep in cars."

"And why's that?" Mike asked.

Jesse shrugged. "I used to, but not since I ended up in the trunk of one."

"Oh, yeah that'll ruin it for you," Mike said. He was quiet for a moment or two. "You want to stop for a while? A motel maybe?"

Jesse shook his head. "Let's stop when we're done. I don't want to chance these kids dying all so I could lie down for a while."

"Fair enough. But we at least have to stop for gas," Mike said.

Jesse nodded. "And snacks. And I want to get something else too. There's probably a gas station with knickknacks around here."

"Knickknacks? Did you just use the word knickknacks?"

Jesse grinned. "Well... Yeah. We need a shop that sells knickknacks."

"May I ask why?"

"I'll sound stupid if I say it out loud," Jesse told him. 

"I won't think you sound stupid. Come on, tell me."

"I was... thinking of getting them each something. Like... like a stuffed animal. Something to hug if they're scared," Jesse admitted, blushing. 

Mike felt his heart swell. He gave Jesse a fond look. "See, that's not stupid at all. I knew it was a smart idea to bring you along, Kid. I never would have thought of that."

Jesse looked at Mike shyly. "Really? You really think it's a good idea?"

"Yeah. I do," Mike replied with a little smile.

Jesse blushed hard. "How about this gas station up here?" He pointed. "Looks kinda kitschy."

"Gesundheit," Mike joked and started to pull over. "Don't take too long."

Jesse ran into the store and grabbed an array of snacks off the shelf - plenty of Funyons, of course, but also some Cheetos, several varieties of cookies, and an Entenmen's crumb cake. Then he walked to the corner and plucked out two teddy bears, one brown and one pink, purchasing them as well before he returned to the car. 

Mike took a short bathroom break and returned to the car. When Jesse got back, Mike stared at him.

"You want anything else? A kitchen sink? A toaster oven?" he teased, with a little smirk.

Jesse shook his head with a grin. "They seem a little young to be using a toaster oven," he replied. 

Mike spotted the bears and reached for the brown one.

"They'll love these," Mike said sincerely.

He set the bear back down.

"Let's get going."

Jesse smiled warmly. "Are we almost there? Where we're going to start looking?"

"Yep, two hours," Mike said, pulling out of the gas station.

Jesse yawned and leaned his head back against the window. This was going to be a long-ass trip.

***

Two hours later...

"I definitely see something that vaguely looks like a city," Jesse murmured.

"Yep, but we're almost to the house already. You know, they live out in the country."

"So we're going to talk to the kids' grandparents? So these are... Beecher's parents?" Jesse qualified. 

"No, it's best that they don't see us at all, lest they suspect we're the kidnappers. But we can look around the place they were taken."

"Okay," Jesse agreed. "Maybe there's some clues that other people didn't pick up on."

Mike nodded, pulling up around the corner from where the kids were taken. He scanned the area, making sure the cops weren't sitting on the place. "Stay close."

Jesse nodded, too. "We'll just have to look as non-shady as possible. Easy... right?"

Mike gave a little smile and started walking towards the crime scene. He glanced around for the nearest houses and fences. He was hopeful when he spotted a security camera but it was facing the wrong way.

Jesse followed him, gazing around.

He knelt down, looking through the grass, figuring something could have been lost in the melee. 

Mike walked a little further from the scene, still checking for any video recording devices, but to no avail.

Jesse let his hands sift through the grass, hoping to find something.

"Hey Mike!" he exclaimed as his hand caught a grip on something metal. 

Mike raised an eyebrow and headed back. "What is it, Kid?"

"Some kinda ring," he replied as he yanked it out of a small casing of mud, falling backwards and landing on his ass. He held it up. 

Mike tried not to laugh at the Kid as he took the ring from Jesse's hand. He squinted at it. 

"Class of '97," Mike murmured. "Cave Springs High School."

Jesse slowly climbed up.

"Does that mean anything to you?" he asked. 

"Hank Schillinger graduated from Cave Springs," Mike murmured. "I can double check the year he graduated."

Jesse rubbed at his face. "Jeez. That jerk graduated and I didn't?"

Mike let out a dry laugh. "Come on. We don't want to hang around here too long. Nice work, Kid."

"So it's Hank, then?" Jesse inquired, moving to follow Mike.

"Pretty safe bet. Now we track him down...and pray he stuck around town like an idiot."

"Well, like an idiot sounds pretty accurate. How did the FBI not find the ring, anyway?"

"They probably figure those kids are a lost cause. I'm betting the only reason they're still pretending to look is because the grandparents are loaded," Mike said, pulling off.

Jesse curled his arms over each other. "We'll prove them wrong. I wanna see Beecher's face when we come in with his kids, safe and sound."

"I hope you're right, Kid. I really do."


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning: Hank Schillinger being super asshole and super creepy to poor Holly and Gary.

Holly Beecher curled tighter around herself. Wherever this place was, it was cold and dark and didn't smell good at all. She peeked over at her brother.

"Gary?" she whispered. 

Gary let out a faint whimper. He was lying on his side on the cold hard floor. Holly must be nearby, but he was paralyzed with fear and clutching his hand.

"Gary," Holly whispered again. She slowly reached out one hand until it reached his side. "We're going to be okay. Someone's going to come save us."

Gary whimpered again, flinching when Holly touched him. "D-d-dad..."

"He's gonna come find us, Gary. He promised to always come get us no matter what, remember? We're going home so soon." Holly slowly moved beside him, wrapping her arms around him and holding him tight against her. "I love you Gary. You're a good brother."

Gary took momentary comfort in Holly's touch and words. 

"Love you," he whispered to the ground, shivering a little. 

He stared at the stump where his finger used to be. How could Daddy be saving them when he was so far away? Why didn't Daddy save him when the scary man cut his finger off? He closed his eyes tight and sobbed softly.

"Shut up, you mutts," Hank sneered, kicking Gary as he walked by, more because he was too lazy to step out of the way than from actual malice.

Holly clung to him.

"Don't cry, Gary," she said softly. She turned to glare up at Hank. "Stop being mean to him! He didn't do anything to you." 

Hank sucked his teeth and plopped down onto the worn out couch.

"Little bitch," he hissed, looking around for the remote. 

Gary shuddered and rolled over to face Holly, sobbing loudly.

"Shut up! Or I'll chop your whole hand off too!"

Gary squealed and then when silent, shaking and crying quietly.

Holly hugged him close again. "It's okay, Gary," she comforted. "He's going to come get us. He is. And the scary man is gonna be sorry." 

Hank ignored them when he finally got the remote. He turned the TV on loud enough to drown the brats out and started surfing his usual porn channels.

Gary just nodded, still shaking in his sister's arms.

Holly reached out and began to gently brush Gary's hair with her fingers. "When we go home, we're gonna eat lots of ice cream. You just... gotta... what do they say? Be patient? And I still love you even though you got your finger cut off. You're still my brother."

Gary tried to think of ice cream. Ice cream would be nice, with his sister and his Daddy and Mommy....but not Mommy, she was dead. At least he still had Holly, he didn't want anything bad to happen to her, but he knew he probably wouldn't be able to stop it. They needed Daddy.

"Okay....it's gonna be okay," he told himself as much as Holly. "Daddy will come get us."

Holly nodded and cuddled close.

"And he's gonna give us big hugs. Really big hugs Gary," she told him. "And maybe... you know how Mommy and Daddy used to talk about us going to Disney Land? Maybe we'll go there and see... and see Goofy and Mickey." 

"And Donald?" Gary asked quietly. He liked Donald and his little blue shirt and funny voice.

"Yeah," Holly said eagerly, "And Donald. We're gonna see all of them. We're... we're even gonna see Mommy cause she's gonna be home from Heaven then. And Daddy will be back from Oz."

Gary shuddered a little, wanting so badly for all that to be true.

"Yeah..."

Holly moved to stroke his hair again. "I'm sleepy, Gary. Are you?"

"Yeah," Gary replied, but it wasn't true. He wasn't sure how he'd ever sleep again. He just wanted to close his eyes and ignore the weird sounds from the TV and Hank.

“Here," Holly told him, moving so that they were both lying on their sides with her arms around him, "Close your eyes and say a prayer for Mommy okay?"

"Dear God in heaven, please let Daddy come get us soon and take us to get ice cream and go to Disney World. And please let Mommy come down from heaven so she can go with us. And please give me a new finger. In Jesus name I pray, Amen."

"Amen," Holly echoed. "Let's go to sleep now Gary. Maybe in the morning this will be better. Maybe we'll wake up back in our room."

"Okay..." Gary said, closing his eyes.

Holly closed her eyes, too, but it didn't help. The floor was too cold and too hard to sleep on. She slowly let go of her brother, got up and walked, more like toddled, over to Hank.

"Can we get pillows?" she asked him.

Hank had his hand in his boxers and the zipper of his jeans down. He glared at Holly and used his other hand to throw a couch pillow at her.

"Share it and get lost," Hank said.

Not that they could, the basement door was locked and the windows were all covered.

"Thank you Mr. Sir," Holly whispered.

Hank ignored her, staring at the TV.

Holly picked up the pillow and walked back to Gary. "You take it, okay?" She offered.

Gary lifted his head and took it with his good hand. "Thanks..."

"I love you Gary," Holly whispered, cuddling up behind him. "Hey do you remember when we saw Cinderella? And the fairy could fix everything?"

"Yeah..." Gary murmured.

"Well maybe... When we get outta here... we can go find a fairy, and she can fix your finger," she suggested with a yawn. 

"Okay..." Gary said, closing his eyes again.

Holly just hoped things would get better soon. It was scary, being here.


	7. Chapter 7

"So this guy is a friend of Hank's?" Jesse inquired, looking up at the house they were driving towards.

"Yeah," Mike said, pulling over behind some bushes. "I called Hank’s wife, and this was the only name she came up with. You may wanna stay in the car, Kid."

"Not a chance. You're gonna need backup," Jesse argued. 

Mike smirked a little. It was like being a cop again, having some spunky new partner. 

"Okay...but you follow my lead, alright. You might not agree with everything I do, but I've been at this for a while and it usually works, alright?"

Jesse nodded.

"I trust you, Mike. You've saved my ass more than once."

Mike smiled. 

"Let's go."

He popped the trunk and climbed out of the car. From the trunk he pulled out some black gloves and a small black bag. Nodding to Jesse, he tossed him a pair of gloves and walked around to the side door of the house.

Jesse pulled on his own pair of gloves, feeling like an extreme badass. He followed Mike, shadowing him completely. 

Door was locked, no surprise, Mike quickly reached into his little black bag and pulled out two thin metal instruments, he stuck them into the lock, picked it until it clicked, and slowly opened the door. They were in the kitchen. He listened for any movement. After a few seconds, he unholstered his gun just in case the guy was waiting for them and eased his way in.

Jesse held his breath as he slipped slowly behind Mike. He was terrified that his feet would hit the floor wrong and get them both killed, so each move was as precise as Jesse could make it. 

Mike scoped the living room and was surprised to find the tv off and the room empty. Maybe he wasn't home? But there were noises upstairs. Mike glanced back to check on Jesse before moving up the stairs. He gritted his teeth, noticing that they creaked as he stepped and he could only manage to minimize the creaking by timing his steps with the noise up there. It was a slow progression.

Jesse followed him, still watching his breath. They'd only get one shot at this. His heart was pounding out of his chest. 

Mike made it up the stairs and approached the half open bedroom door where the sounds were coming from. He could see the back of the guy's head, but not if anyone else was in the room. He leaned away from the opening, looked at Jesse then turned back and walked through the door, gun aimed at the guys head. He cocked it.

"Don't move."

The man let out a squeak.

"Hey, man... Put that thing down!" he yelped as he turned his head towards Mike. 

Mike walked in steady, glancing around the corner. "You alone?"

"Yeah! Please man I don't know what you want! You got the wrong house!"

"You know a Hank Schillinger?"

"Ummm...." the man started nervously. "Yeah we hang sometimes. He owes me forty bucks. Why?"

"Where is he right now? Come on, don't think, people take time to think when they're lying and you don't want me to catch you lying."

"I don't know where he is, man!" the man protested, "I don't even know him like that."

"Close the door, Kid," Mike ordered, walking over to the guy and grabbing him by the collar of his shirt.

Jesse did as instructed, shutting the door and standing guard in front of it with his hands crossed in front of him.

"Hey man!" the guy cried out. "What gives? I wasn't doin’ nothin man!"

"Lower your voice," Mike growled. "Now you tell us what we want to know, and we'll be on our way. If you make this difficult, you're only gonna be hurting yourself. Now, where's Hank?"

"I really... really don't know where he is, man. Like... man, if I knew where he was, I'd tell ya," the man argued, trying to slip out of Mike's grasp. 

Mike let go of his collar to grab his throat and bring him nose to nose with him.

"I know you know where he is. And you have one last chance at telling me before I break your face in. Hank had an accomplice in his kidnapping. Word on the street is that you were that accomplice. Got paid pretty well for the shoddy job you did, but the cash didn't keep your mouth shut. That's why you're in the position you're in now. So quit playing dumb and wasting our time. This is your last warning. Where is Hank Schillinger?"

"Man, no!" he cried out, "I don't know nothin' about no kidnappin' man! If you don't get off me I'm gonna sue your ass for your body parts and shit!"

Mike tightened his grip around the man's windpipe and smacked him with the butt of his pistol.

 

The man let out a sharp, strangled whine. "Please man!"

Jesse flinched lightly from his spot at the door. He also stared in a kind of horrid fascination as he heard the sound of dripping water start from somewhere, and quickly realized the source. 

Mike looked down and was not pleased to see a drop of piss on his shoe. This guy was lucky Mike didn't make him lick it off.

"Now, Jamie. Tell us where Hank Schillinger is, and I won't have to beat you until you shit yourself too."

The man started to cry. "He told me he'd kill me if I said, man. Hank's scary, man. He knows people and shit." 

"I'm gonna kill you if you don't tell me," Mike said. "Who are you more scared of? Me or Him?"

Jamie whimpered and proceeded to continue peeing himself.

Jesse put a hand on his forehead and sighed. 

Mike rolled his eyes and clicked the safety on his gun, tossing it to Jesse. Clearly this guy couldn't handle being pistol whipped, so he'd have to use his bare hands. He slapped him.

"Knock it off! Talk!"

"Please!" Jamie pleaded. "I.... I... listen, man, I don't even know if he's still there! Why don't you go ask his girlfriend? Go beat HER up man!"

 

Mike let go of Jamie's throat so when he punched him it wouldn't snap his neck. He didn't hold anything back in that punch either, right under the nose.

Jamie fell to the floor in a heap, weakly holding his hands to his face. "Okay, man!" he whimpered, "Okay man there's... there's this old house out on 96th Street. Out of the way. Used to be a shooting gallery and shit, like, y'know, for heroin... and shit. He took them there, just stop hitting me! And I still think you shoulda just asked his bitch. She fucks him man I just get money."

Mike took a deep breath, raised his gun, and shot Jamie in the leg. 

"Thank you for your time. I strongly recommend that you see a therapist about your obsession with hitting pregnant women," Mike told him, walking towards Jesse.

Jesse's eyes went wide as he opened the door and walked out, holding it open for Mike. Once they were safely outside, he breathed, "Holyshit."

Mike holstered his gun and glanced at Jesse curiously.

"What?"

Jesse smiled. "I've... uh... never seen you in action like that before. I think... I kinda like it."

Mike smirked a little. 

"Really?" Mike asked. "I didn't think you'd be okay with that sort of thing."

"I felt a little bad," Jesse admitted, "But he helped hurt two little kids. So.... I also kinda really don't, at all." 

Mike laughed. "It's a grey area, then."

He climbed into the car. "Kid, brace yourself. There's a chance he was lying and I'll have to hunt him down and kill him, but even if he's not there's no telling what we're gonna find there."

Jesse shuddered.

"Just please tell me that those kids are all right... That's all I want." He shook his head. "I guess there's no time like the present, right? Let's go."


	8. Chapter 8

Vern Schillinger stood by the payphone, the big bulky black phone fitted to his hand as he waited for his son to pick up. 

Hank yawned and sat up. He'd fallen asleep watching this boring ass porno. _Not watching that again._ He took his hand out of his boxers and answered his disposable cellphone. 

"Yeah?"

"Hey there, Hank. How are you doing?" Vern was so happy just to hear his son's voice. It still felt like it had been so long. 

"Good," Hank said, lacking enthusiasm. "How are you, Dad?"

"Well, better, now that I'm talking to you," he told him honestly. Hank was his pride and joy, after all. "How are our two little packages holding up? Still wrapped all nice and proper?" 

Hank glanced over his shoulder. He'd almost forgotten about them. They were piled up like dogs taking a nap.

"Yeah. They're fine all nice and neat."

"Any complications from the... unwrapping of the first one?" Vern pressed. Hank wasn't a medical professional, after all, and this could end up ending way more early than he wanted. 

"No, I mean, it's noisy but aside from that it's okay," Hank said boredly.

"Okay," Vern replied, "Now, tomorrow, I want you to unwrap the first package a little more. Do you get what I mean?"

"Not exactly...you talking about peeling another strip off or ripping it open?"

"Peeling another strip off," Vern replied, getting annoyed at having to keep using metaphor. "These packages won't go bad for a while. And when that one's done you do have a fresh one."

"Alright, Dad," Hank said. "Anything else?"

"No. You better be keeping off those drugs, though. I mean it."

"What drugs?" Hank asked, as if honestly asking about which ones.

Vern nearly slapped himself in the head.

"Any ones you don't need to actively stay alive, Hank. For the love of... Stay safe."

"Alright. Love you Dad, bye," Hank said, tossing that last bit out in case it got him a nice tip.

Vern's heart swelled. "Love you too, son." He hung up with a smile. He'd heard that Keller was out of the hole, maybe he could find him and give him a hard time some more. He knew he couldn't approach Beecher directly.

***

Chris Keller was on his way to their pod, fresh out of the hole, ready to tell Toby he was sorry for leaving him in his time of need, but Toby wasn't in their pod...He looked around below, even at Said's pod. No Toby in sight. Had something happened? Was he in the hole too? The infirmary even? He went downstairs to the chess table.

"Hey O'Reily! You seen Beecher anywhere?"

Ryan looked up. "No, Keller. Haven't seen him. He might be at Sister Pete's office. Did you see him, Cyril?"

Cyril looked over from watching the TV.

"No... I haven't seen him, Ryan," he piped back, before looking back at the TV. "Miss Sally has big bazooms."

Chris wrinkled his brow a bit and headed towards the nearest CO. "Murphey? Did Beecher go anywhere? Sister Pete's? Infirmary?"

Murphy looked over at him.

"I don't know, Keller. He might have gone to see Dr. Nathan. He said something about his shoulder hurting." 

Chris's chest tightened. Shoulder? There was nothing wrong with his shoulder before Chris went into the hole. He knew better than to ask to go see him. 

"Thanks..." he said, disheartened and walked away. 

It couldn't be anything serious, Chris assured himself. He'd just wait for him to get back...maybe watch some TV.

Unfortunately, that was when Vern's mail cart happened to roll by.

"Hello, Keller. Let me see if you've got anything... I think there might be a package in here for you. Or for Beecher. Can't tell either of you apart these days."

Chris snarled, his worry for Toby dulling his anger a bit. But so help him God if this was another piece of Toby's kids he'd tear Schillinger to shreds on the spot. He folded his arms and refused to respond. 

"Oh, look," Vern said, lifting up a flat package. "It's for you... you think it's something interesting? You know, I read that Jack the Ripper sent a kidney to a newspaper once."

"Fuck you up the ass, Schillinger," Keller growled, ripping the package open.

"Do you think a kidney would fit in there?" Vern continued, "A small one, maybe." He actually looked pretty disappointed when Keller's package revealed a catalog for Sears. 

Chris was relieved but still incredibly pissed all at once. He glared at Vern. "Looks like you get to live another day, Vern."

"Looks like I do, Keller," Vern hissed, "But I guess we'll find out if Beecher's brats are as lucky? Maybe whoever has them just sold them. There's organ traders, brothels... Plenty of places would pay a pretty penny wouldn't they?"

"Schillinger, if those kids turn up dead, injured, or raped, there's not gonna be a fucking twig left of your family tree," Keller said icily.

Vern feigned innocence. "I have nothing to do with it. How the hell am I supposed to know where those kids are?" He made an over-broad shrug and continued on his rounds. 

Keller watched him go like a tiger reluctantly releasing his prey. He'd get his. Keller would make sure of it.

Vern did stop back for one parting shot, over his shoulder. "Or, you can tell Bitcher, maybe whoever had 'em just got bored and left 'em there." 

The edge of Chris's mouth curled, but he kept himself together. Toby needed him.

It was that moment when Beecher happened to walk by.

"Hey, Chris," he called, his voice strained. 

"Toby!" Chris exclaimed, wanting to hug him but settling for a hand on his shoulder. "You okay?"

"Yeah," Beecher replied, "Sorry, I was down at Dr. Nathan's. I pulled my shoulder... I slept wrong on it I think." He didn't tell Keller that he'd actually hurt it trying to hit the wall.

"Ahhh Toby," Chris said, looking him over as if he expected to see other injuries. "Well, at least you're sleeping. You need the rest..." He was hesitant to ask about news on the kids...If Toby knew anything new surely he'd tell him. 

"I'm trying to," Toby whispered, "But... it's a lot easier to sleep with you there." He lighted touched Chris' side. 

Chris felt a rush of warmth and his abdomen clenching. He wanted to hug Toby, kiss him, tell him it was all gonna be okay but the hacks were already looking at them. 

"Well, I'm not going anywhere any more. I promise I just...I lost my temper is all."

"I felt... good when you defended me," Toby whispered. 

"Somebody should. I mean I can't believe the Feds haven't pinned him for this yet," Chris started, but he didn't want to upset Toby. "So hey, what do you wanna do? Right now I mean?"

"Could we... go in the pod? I want to be.... I want to cuddle. And I need to tell you something, but you cannot tell anyone else as long as you live." 

How could Chris say no to any of that?

"Sure thing, Toby," He said with a gentle smile.

Toby silently took his hand and led him back to the pod, checking around for the all-clear.

Chris tilted his head. Toby was acting a little...off.

"What is it?"

"I... I hired someone to find Holly and Gary," Toby admitted softly.

"Isn't that what the FBI is supposed to be doing? Who else could you get it?"

"Chris, the FBI thinks this is your work. There's... a guy I used to know. He knows...another guy. Who does this kind of thing." 

Toby had a point. The FBI were shit at this.

"A guy who knows a guy? Are these people dangerous? Like would they come after you to get money? How much did you pay these people?" Chris asked. 

"I have money, Chris. A lot of money... And considering they'll have my kids... I don't think they really need to worry about getting paid." Toby looked down at the floor of the cell. "But I... I'm not going to need money here in Oz, Chris. What I need is my kids. I paid them $20,000."

"Yeah but still...and like you said they'll have your kids! They can ask for more and what if they botch it and get your kids killed?" Chris blurted out. 

Toby blinked his eyes, trying to hold back tears. "It's the only chance I have, Chris. It's either this and I risk the chance or I let the FBI sit on it and wait for the next package and then what will it be? Every day I don't do something is another day that God knows what happens to them. And these people... if they want money, I can give them that. Schillinger... wants to see the look on my face when I realize my kids are being dismembered. You think I can solve that?"

Chris frowned and hugged Toby. He was right. The FBI wasn't doing shit and this was a pretty good option, assuming that the guys doing it didn't screw up...Whether Toby hired them or not the chances of those kids coming back alive were slim. Why not take it?

"It's okay. You're right, Toby. You're right. I just needed a second to get it. So no one's supposed to know about this?"

"No. The man I talked to is concerned that... Schillinger might get antsy and have Holly and Gary killed." Toby swallowed harshly. 

Chris looked nervously at Toby. "You have anyway of contacting these guys? Like, if they've found them? If they're getting them out?"

"He's going to contact me through the guy I know," Toby explained. "This lawyer I used to know. He's kinda... you know, one of those sort of shady lawyers who advertise on TV. Once they know anything... or if they need to know anything... I'm supposed to hear from him. This guy, he works... pretty below the radar. I don't even know his name. Just that he's... well, Saul told me he does... private investigating... and... uh..." Toby made air-quotes. "Cleaning."

Chris raised his eyebrows. Might be the real thing then.

"Okay...alright...so we're still waiting...Come on, lay down, Toby, you look dead on your feet."

"Okay," Toby whispered. He climbed up on his bunk and gazed down at Chris. "Do you really think they'll be okay?"

Chris had always been a bluntly honest person but looking at Toby, he just couldn't do that to him.

"Yeah, Toby, I do," he said, kissing his cheek.

Toby smiled sadly. "I love you, Chris. I don't... I don't know what I'm gonna do." He paused. "I saw Schillinger talking to you earlier. What was that all about?"

"Just the usual," Chris whispered. "Schillinger was being an asshole about the mail and the kidnapping. I managed not to deck him this time, but you know I wanted to. I want to kill him for all the suffering he's caused you, Toby."

Toby looked at Chris with wet eyes.

"Thank you. I just... it doesn't even... I would do anything to get them back. Hell, I'd go back to being his damn prag if it meant my kids would be safe. But that would never be enough."

Chris rubbed the back of Toby's head. "I know you would. I know."

"I j... I just..." Toby started to panic, shivering. "Do you think the men I hired... do you think... if they get them... you think they'll be nice to them?" 

"Of course they will, Toby. They don't get anything out of hurting them. You're paying them."

Toby nodded. "I'll just... feel a lot better when they're safe. I mean... Gary probably needs a doctor. Right now." He dragged a hand over his face.

"Hey, hey," Chris soothed, climbing up onto Toby's bunk. "Shh, he's okay. Schillinger needs him right now, or you would have heard something. Gary will be okay."

"How okay is he gonna be, missing a finger, Chris?" Toby asked, but it was less accusatory than despairing. 

"Toby, people have been okay with a missing arm or leg. Medicine is crazy these days, maybe they could get him a new one."

Toby smiled, a sad hopeful smile. "That's right... M-maybe there's.... a mechanical one... or something." 

"That's right, maybe there's that."

"And... and no matter what. If he needs... if he needs a little more help with things... I can help him," Toby whispered. But how, he wondered, how could he help him from Oz?

"That's right, Toby," Chris murmured, though he wondered the same thing.

"And... and my parents, they'll be kind to them. They're... they're good people even though they're kind of old fashioned..." 

"Your parents are gonna give them all the love and attention they'll need."

Toby nodded. "But I... they should have their parents, Chris. And it's my fault they don't."

"We can't do anything about that now, Toby. Just make sure they know you're here when they need you..."

"Okay," Toby agreed softly. "Well... I did say I'd try to sleep for you."

"Yeah you did," Chris said gently, pressing a kiss to Toby's forehead. "Try not to think about that stuff okay? Just rest."

"Okay," Toby whispered, closing his eyes. "I'll think about us."

Chris blushed. He hadn't heard Toby talk about them like that in a while. He prayed to God for everyone's sake that the guys Toby hired wouldn't fuck this up.

Tony curled up to his pillow. "Gonna think about how when all this is done... you and me are having a nice evening together. We could pay the hacks not to notice."

Chris smiled. "You'd have to play that bitch Claire, a lot."

Toby grinned. "Or give her a little..." he spread his fingers and wiggled his tongue between them.

Chris laughed. Toby had made an honest to God joke. It was a miracle. "How about I give you that instead and she can go fuck herself?"

Toby shivered hard. "Sounds MUCH better."

Chris chuckled. "I bet it does."

Toby closed his eyes again. "Night night Chris."

"Night Toby," Chris said, running a hand through Toby's hair.


	9. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning: Child abuse.

"I want you to promise me something Gary," Holly murmured against the pillow.

"What is it?" Gary asked, revealing that he'd never been asleep at all.

"If you get to Heaven first will you promise to wait for me?"

Gary rolled over to look at his sister.

"Yeah...I promise."

He wriggled over to give her a hug.

Holly hugged him back, tightly. "And same goes for me," she vowed. "We need to always stay together."

"Always," Gary agreed. "And Mommy is probably waiting on us too."

"Yeah," Holly whispered. "I know I'm mean to you sometimes, Gary, but I love you a lot. I'm sorry that I tattled on you when you stole that candy from the corner store."

"I know...and I love you too. And I'm sorry I got so mad at you for tattling," Gary muttered.

"It's okay. I promise not to tattle on you anymore."

Gary shook his head. "I would have got in trouble anyway...I promise not to get mad at you for playing with my toys or going in my room or even tattling."

"Okay." Holly said with a smile. "But it's still okay to get mad at me sometimes. Like if I borrowed your stuff and then I broke it. Or if I got an alligator as a pet."

"When we get home I'll share better," Gary insisted. "Grandpa and Grandma would just by us new stuff anyway.'

"Okay," Holly agreed. "When we get home, do you wanna play with my Jeep? I know I said you couldn't before cause it was for girls."

Gary nodded. "I want to drive it...if I can," he said, glancing at the stump of his missing finger.

"You can, Gary. I'll help you. I promise." Holly reached out and hugged him. "We'll drive it together."

"There's only one steering whee;," Gary murmured.

"Alright brats, it's din din time," Hank said, sliding a plate of two grilled cheeses across the floor. "You better eat every damn scrap too."

Holly glared at him. She was hungry, she had to admit, but the last thing he had given them was burnt Chef Boyardee that tasted disgusting.

"I don't want it," she pouted. 

Hank grabbed her by the hair.

Gary shrieked and grabbed Hank's arm.

"You'll eat it," Hank said, shoving her face on the plate. "Every fucking bite!"

"Okay, okay!" Holly pleaded, shaking. "Just let me go!"

Hank let go of her hair and flung his arm outward to knock Gary over.

"Spoiled little bitches. Now eat Goddamnit! Don't make me shove it down your throats."

Holly caught her breath from yelling and ran over to check on Gary.

"Hey," she whispered, "Are you okay?"

"Yeah," Gary murmured, after having the wind of knocked out of him. "are you?"

"Yeah," Holly whispered back, "We'd better eat so he doesn't get madder. But... but remember, we're gonna play in the jeep together okay? Don't be scared Gary." 

Gary nodded and reached for the burnt grilled cheese. He didn't even know he was hungry until he took the first bite."

Holly reluctantly picked up her own, pulling the pieces apart and then breaking one piece into much littler pieces. 

Gary eating half-way through and watched Holly break the pieces up.

"Aren't you gonna eat something?" he whispered, so Hank wouldn't hear.

"Yeah," Holly whispered back, sticking a piece in her mouth. "I just had to make it small. It's so gross."

Gary nodded solemnly, though he immediately took another bite.

Holly shoved another piece in her mouth, chewed and swallowed disinterestedly. "When we get home we're gonna have pizza."

"And ice cream," Gary said with a full mouth.

"Yeah," Holly agreed. "And fried chicken, too. And hot dogs."

"Happy meals," Gary added with a grin.

"Yeah!" Holly ate another bite. "And... annnnd... cotton candy."

"Yeah," Gary said dreamily as he nibbled at the crust of his grilled cheese. For the moment, the reality of their situation was kept at bay. The bad man couldn't stop them from dreaming.

"When we get home.... maybe they won't even be mad we didn't do our homework," Holly continued. "I was gonna do it."

Gary gave a small smile. "I wasn't..."

Then he looked miserable. "Do you think...what if they think this is my fault?"

Holly shook her head.

"They SAID they were supposed to bring us home, remember?"

Gary's lip quivered.

"Yeah, but they also said not to take stuff from strangers..."

Holly put the plate down and reached out to hug Gary.

"Don't cry Gary. I got in the car too so if it's your fault then it's both our faults okay?"

Gary hugged her back, tears dripping down his cheek but he knew better than to sob or Hank might kick him again. He nodded into Holly's shoulder.

Holly gently squeezed him.

"It's okay, Gary. It's okay." But it was hard for her to hold back her own tears. She wasn't sure why she hadn't started crying yet other than that she was trying so hard to be strong for Gary. Just like when they had come into the garage and found their mom sleeping and then she didn't wake up. 

Gary wiped up his tears on Holly's shirt, but he couldn't let go.

Hank twisted his head to look at them. At least they had the sense to keep quiet. Crying wasn't going to kill them, so he turned back to the tv rather than breaking it up.

Holly held him tightly. "I love you, Gary. Let's try and eat a little more, okay? Then maybe we can play a game."

"Okay..." Gary said faintly, reluctantly letting her go. 

Holly slowly scooped up another bite. She could only hope this would be over soon.


	10. Chapter 10

"So, what happens if that guy was bullshitting us?" Jesse inquired. 

Mike side-eyed Jesse.

"I think you know what happens to the guy."

Jesse looked at Mike. "If the kids end up dying because of this dick, I'll personally help you." 

Mike gave a little smile. Then opened his glove compartment and handed Jesse a gun. "You can keep it on safety and hide it if you want, but I'm not letting you walk in there unarmed. Got it?"

"Okay," Jesse told him, "But I'm not shooting unless I have to since the kids'll be in there."

"Alright. Let's go," Mike said, all business now.

Jesse nodded and opened his car door.

"If we don't make it out... It was great knowing you, Mike."

"Don't talk like that," Mike said sternly. "This is a job like any other. We'll be in and out."

He approached the door and quietly picked at the lock.

Jesse had wanted to argue, to just let him know he had just wanted to say it considering what they'd talked about, but he stayed quiet, watching Mike work instead. 

Mike opened the door and scoped the room, only stepping in when he was sure it was completely clear. He listened for any noise and could hear it coming from below. He looked around for the door to the basement.

Jesse followed him, trying to not even breath too loud. Part of him was sure that something was going to come flying out at him at any second. 

Mike opened a closet first, closed it quietly and stepped lightly to the next door, a laundry room. There was one he knew was the garage so he settled on the final door and opened it. A staircase to the basement. Stone stairs thank God because wooden ones would squeak. Mike unholstered his gun and crept down the stairs like a snake. Now that he could hear it, there was clearly porn music playing.

Jesse followed behind, raising an eyebrow at the porn music. "Really?" he mouthed to Mike. "Really?"

Mike put a hand up, though he understood the sentiment. This Hank must be a sick fuck. He peered around the corner with his gun raised. The silhouette of a young man was behind the couch, the children were on the floor, holding each other. The little boy looked up and gasped, Mike rushed in at the silhoutte who was turning his head.

"HOLY FUCK!" Hank shouted, reaching for his gun.

Jesse was tempted to pull his own gun, but he remembered that was Mike's area and he dove towards the two children. 

Mike gripped Hank's drawing arm with one hand and slapped him with the butt of his pistol with the other. Naturally, Hank reached for Mike's gun, but the older man easily pulled it away, he had Hank's arm in an iron grip and was twisting it. The young man cried out.

Gary yelled. Holly, frightened but seeming to understand that this was a rescue, pulled Gary over to Jesse. 

"Hey," Jesse whispered urgently. "It's okay. Your Daddy sent us here to get you, okay? Can you both walk?" 

"Daddy!" Holly piped up. "Gary, Daddy sent him!"

Gary shook his head. "Lying."

"We can walk," Holly informed him. Nothing could be worse than Hank, even if this new person was lying.

"GET THEM OUT!" Mike shouted, wrestling with Hank still.

"Okay," Jesse said. He took a look at Gary's hand, horrified. "Okay, here's what I need you guys to do. Gary, can you grab my hand with your good one? And Holly, you grab my other hand, okay? You see the picture on my hand?" He gestured to his tattoo. "Don't let it out of your sight, okay? We're gonna need to run fast and get to my car." 

With a shit ton of effort, Hank managed to get the hand Mike wasn't holding down to his gun. Mike made the choice to put his own gun to Hank's head. "Don't do it," Mike warned.

Holly nodded and gave Gary's hand to Jesse. She took the other one.

"Here we go," Jesse told them, starting to run towards the car, even as he gave a worried look back at Mike. Deciding Mike could handle his own and that he couldn't do much of anything grabbing two kids, he guided them up the steps and out the door. "Our car is right here, okay. Let's get inside."

Gary was panting but ran as fast as he could. If his sister was going then so was he.

Hank heard the kids going upstairs and decided to chance it he whipped his gun up but Mike shot him in the head before he could aim. He silently thanked God when he heard the front door open. They hadn't stopped. They were out. Quickly, Mike climbed off of Hank and made his own escape up the stairs.

Jesse opened the back doors of the car.

"Take a seat," he told Gary and Holly. "It's safe back there. Gary, we're gonna need to have your hand looked at once we get where we're going, okay sweetheart?" 

Gary looked at Jesse fearfully, but was confused by Jesse calling him sweetheart. Only nice people said stuff like that. He looked at Holly. Holly climbed in and reached a hand back for him. Gary took it and followed.

Mike was out the front door and at the driver's seat before anyone could blink.

"Are they okay?"

"Yeah," Jesse told him, climbing in the passenger's. "I didn't really get a chance to check them over though. They have some bruises and he really needs that hand looked at." He reached back and picked up the teddy bears. "Hey, these are for you two." 

Holly grabbed one and teared up a little, burying her face in it.

Gary, having just learned not to take things from strangers, took his reluctantly and proceeded to examine it from top to bottom.

Jesse looked at him sadly.

"It's okay, Gary," he coaxed. "He's safe. He's a nice bear. He's very soft, too. Check him and see. Give him a little test cuddle, okay?" 

Gary gave the bear a tentative squeeze. Finding that nothing bad was happening, he shut his eyes tightly and hugged it closer.

Jesse smiled. "You kids get comfortable, okay? I have blankets and pillows back there so help yourself to them. I have some bags of Funyons up here too, if you want them. We have about a little bit of a drive to get back to where we need to be." He looked at Mike. "How long 'til Oz?" 

"Twenty miles," Mike said. "We should be there in about half an hour."

Gary murmured, "Oz...? You're taking us to Daddy?"

"Yeah, honey," Jesse told him. "We're taking you to him. Everything's going to be okay now, all right?" He turned around. "How's your hand Gary?" 

"...It's okay," Gary muttered. "Hurts sometimes..."

Holly was glad that they were going to see Daddy after all. All that stuff they'd talked about, it'd really happen. She placed a hand on Gary's shoulder. 

"He'll be okay."

"Okay," Jesse said. "When we get to Oz we're going to have a doctor look at your hand and give you some medicine to make it stop hurting, all right?"

"All right," Gary replied.

"Kid," Mike said. "We're just dropping them off right? We're not supposed to be seen."

Jesse shook his head.

"I'm taking them in. I need to make sure they're okay." 

Mike frowned. "And I don't suppose there's any talking you out of it?"

Jesse shook his head. "Mike, I know what I'm doing. I'm just going to act... really stupid. Which tends to come a bit naturally."

Mike shook his head. "You're not stupid."

Jesse smiled and gently nudged Mike.

"Y'know... I... uh... before, what I meant to say... was that I'm glad I told you how I felt."

Mike furrowed his brow, trying to figure out when earlier was. 

"Oh, you mean the 'if we don't make it out' thing...Right, I'm sorry I snapped at you about that, Kid. I just don't like to think about you dying, especially not on a job I brought you in on."

Jesse laughed. "Don't worry. I don't plan on dying anytime soon, okay? I just... wanted to make sure you knew. Just in case. It was a little crazy in there, wasn't it?" 

"Yeah it did," Mike said with a nod. "Good job getting the kids out of harm's way though."

Jesse blushed. "Well, I just... it was all heat of the moment I guess. Speaking of..." He turned around to make sure the kids were alright. 

Holly had stretched a blanket across them both and was leaning heavily on Gary, growing drowsy now that it seemed that they were safe at last.

Gary was clutching his teddy bear and looking out the window with a tired, but unsleepy stair. He was in a daze, unable to believe any of this was real.

 

Jesse smiled at them.

"That's right, Holly. Try and get a little sleep. Gary, you can, too. Or would you like some music? I can lend you my iPod. Anything you guys need you just ask, okay?"

Holly looked at Jesse sleepily, then closed her eyes. Gary shook his head and went back to staring out the window but his stomach growled. The burnt grilled cheese had not been very filling and that was hours ago. Reluctantly, he turned back to Jesse and glanced at the pile of snacks.

"You want some food?" Jesse asked, picking up a bag of Funyons and handing it over. "Here. Help yourself."

"T-thank you," Gary mumbled.

He took a deep breath and opened it. With his good hand he reached in, pulled out a single ring, sniffed it and took a bite.

"How do they taste?" Holly mumbled with her eyes closed.

"Good," Gary whispered back, grabbing another two.

Jesse grinned at Mike triumphantly. "See? I told you. Funyons. Awesome." To the kids he said, "I've got some water for you, too, if you get thirsty." 

Mike rolled his eyes but the corner of his mouth turned slightly upward.

"Yes, please," Gary said softly.

Jesse took a bottle of water out of the pack and handed it to Gary. "If you need more it's up here, all right? And like I said, you guys need anything... you just ask. We're nice people. Even my silent old friend up here." Jesse grinned at Mike. 

Mike took a hand off the wheel and waved at them backwards.

Gary was secretly amused but not enough to smile.

"Okay."

Jesse turned around, bracing himself against the center console. "You guys look pretty bruised up," he commented, concerned. 

Gary frowned and turned his head away.

Holly opened an eye. "He hurt us."

A chill ran up Jesse's spine and his brain immediately jumped to the worst. He was almost afraid to ask. "How? You can tell me. It's okay."

Gary covered his ears.

"He pulled my hair a lot and threw me on the floor," Holly glanced at Gary. "He kicked my brother a lot too and took away his finger..."

Jesse was sure he could feel his heart breaking. "Aw, sweetheart." He reached back and very slowly took Holly's hand in his. "That's all over now, okay. No one is going to hurt you or your brother again."

Holly squeezed his hand, frowning. "What if he comes back?"

Gary kept his ears covered and shook his head.

Jesse smiled. "Not to sound too sure about it, but when bad men meet my friend here, they usually don't come back. You can take your hands off your ears Gary, we won't talk about anything else scary, okay?" He reached out and put a hand against Gary's good hand. 

Gary looked at him with glassy eyes and slowly put his hands down.

Jesse smiled at him again. "It's okay, little guy. Everything's all right. Do either of you guys need anything else? Do you need to, erm, y'know? Use the bathroom or anything?"

"I uh...I have to go," Holly said nervously. 

"All right," Jesse said, "Glad we found that out sooner rather than later. Gary? How about you?"

Gary nodded.

Mike glanced at them both from the rearview mirror.

"Okaaaaay," Jesse said. "Mike, does it look like there's a rest stop up ahead somewhere? Please. Please tell me that's the case."

Mike sighed. "There's one ten minutes from here but by then...are you sure they can't make it to Oz? I mean it's only 20 minutes away."

Jesse looked over at Mike. "I'm just gonna talk from experience right now... you really don't wanna chance it. When they gotta go... well... you know what they say. And do you really wanna go, 'here, Mr. Beecher, here's your kids, however they did pee themselves'. It's just not gonna look good."

Mike grinned. "All right, all right, Mr. Child specialist. We'll stop."

Just in case, Mike sped up the car and they pulled into a gas station in 7 minutes flat.

"Alright, out you go."

Jesse popped open his door. "We better each take a kid in case they're on the lookout for them," he commented. "Gary, why don't I take you in?" He offered the boy a hand getting out of the car.

Gary clung to his teddy bear and climbed out himself.

"Okay, here we go kiddo," Jesse guided him over to the bathroom. He opened the door to quickly check that no one and nothing was living in there before sending Gary in. 

Gary did a sweeping glance of the place too before closing the door to just a crack handling his business.

Mike looked in the rearview mirror again.

"So, Holly, huh? You know, I have a granddaughter not much older than you."

"Really?" Holly asked, nervously playing with her hair.

"Yeah," Mike said. "I bet you two would have gotten along great. She likes zoos and aquariums and parks...do you like any of those things?"

Holly nodded eagerly. "Yeah! We... uh... we saw... elephants and stuff. When we went. They were really big." 

"Elephants?" Mike said playfully curiosity. "Which ones are those? The ones with the stripes?"

Holly giggled for what felt like the first time in forever. "Nooooo! The elephants have the big trunks. They're big and gray and fat."

"Ohh, I see, those ones. But you said they have trunks? You mean like suitcases? Are they going somewhere?"

Holly shrieked with laughter. "Nooooo!! You're silly!"

Jesse watched the two from his spot on the wall. He couldn't hear what they were saying but he was amazed to see Holly smiling and laughing. Well, if anyone could, Mike could. 

Gary stepped out of the bathroom at last and looked up at Jesse.

"Hey, kiddo," Jesse said gently, "Did you wash your hands?" 

Gary looked down at the ground and mumbled, "I can't reach the sink."

Jesse looked at him. "Aww, it's okay, honey. I can lift you up okay?" He opened the door. 

"Okay," Gary mumbled, going back in and over to the sink. He couldn't even reach the soap dispenser which was a little above the sink.

Jesse reached around his middle and gently picked him up.

Gary swung his feet a little then reached over and pushed the soap dispenser, and turned the handle on the sink. The water was cold and he winced as it ran over his stub of a finger.

"Clean," he stated, pulling his hands out and shaking them.

Jesse put him back on the ground. "Alright. Let's go get your sister."

Gary nodded and followed Jesse.

Mike glanced at the window and was glad to see Jesse and Gary had returned in one piece with no one following them.

"Okay, Holly Jolly, your turn," he teased, opened the car door.

Holly bolted out the door and headed for the bathroom, apparently with some urgency.

Jesse led Gary back into the back seat. "Here you go. We'll be on our way really soon."

Mike chuckled and jogged after her and took his post next to the door.

Gary climbed into the back with his teddy bear and curled under the blanket. 

Jesse climbed back into the passenger's side, turning around and sitting on his knees to look at Gary.

"How are you holding up? I know this is pretty scary."

"I'm okay..." Gary mumbled, looking out the window. "How long until we get there?"

"Just about ten more minutes, honey. I don't know exactly how it's going to work when we get there, to be honest," Jesse replied. 

"But I'll see my Dad?" Gary asked, hugging his teddy bear. 

"I promise you'll see your dad," Jesse replied. "Cross my heart, kiddo." He smiled at him. "My girlfriend's son is your age, you know. His name is Brock." 

Gary believed him, though he was antsy with his sister out of the car.

"Really?"

"Yeah," Jesse told him. "I love him a lot. You remind me of him a little bit. He's kind of quiet too."

Gary looked at Jesse curiously. "Are these Brock's toys?"

He moved the teddy bear.

Jesse shook his head. "No. We bought them just for you guys. We thought you might need something to help make things less scary. They're yours to keep. And Gary? Could I talk to you about something?"

"Okay...what?" Gary asked softly, cuddling the bear that he now knew for sure was his.

Jesse looked at Gary and tried to catch his eye. "You know sometimes bad things happen... but they're not anybody's fault."

"But this was my fault."

Jesse shook his head.

"No it wasn't, kiddo. There are some bad guys out there in the world. And they do a lot of bad things. And it's scary. But it's not your fault. Never. Not at all, okay? And just remember there are way more good people than bad people."

Gary frowned and brought his knees up to his chest. "Why'd he pick on us?"

Jesse hesitated, before deciding to tell part of the truth. "His dad was mad at your dad."

Gary frowned. "So this is Daddy's fault?"

Jesse shook his head. "No, honey. It's not his fault either. It's only that bad man's fault."

Gary was quiet for a moment, thoughtful. "Okay..."

"Do you think you can remember to tell that to yourself if you forget?" Jesse prompted gently. 

Gary nodded and echoed. "It's only the bad man's fault."

"That's right, Gary." Jesse curled in his lip and bit it. "Just keep reminding yourself that if you start to feel bad, okay? Sometimes it can be hard to remember, though. But you're a good kid and you didn't do anything wrong." 

Gary nodded, wondering why it would be hard to remember.

Jesse paused for a long moment, wishing there was something he could say to fix all this kid's problems.

"Hey, Gary... Do you want a hug, kiddo?" he asked, finally.

Holly, meanwhile, emerged from the bathroom.

"It smells in there," she griped to Mike. 

Gary thought about it. He really did but he was kind of scared to let anyone touch him but Holly. He gave a small nod.

Jesse smiled and outstretched his hands, leaning in and gently closing his arms around Gary. 

Gary shuffled a little closer as well, tentatively hugging Jesse back.

Jesse softly rubbed Gary's back. "It's okay, little guy. Everything's okay now." He slowly pulled back. "You excited to see your dad?"

"Yeah," Gary said, looking up at Jesse with new curiosity. "Are you my Daddy's friend?"

"Not exactly," Jesse explained. "We've never met before. He talked to my friend and asked us to come get you two."

"Daddy sent you to rescue us?" Gary said, excited. Holly was right! Daddy did save them.

"Yes," Jesse told him, reaching out and brushing a piece of Gary's hair out of his face. "He said to do whatever we needed to do to get you both back to him safe and sound."

Gary hugged Jesse again, actually trusting and happy this time.

Jesse was happily surprised and hugged him back.

Holly made her way back to the car, running ahead of Mike. 

Gary let him go and opened the door for Holly.

Mike climbed back into the drivers seat. He turned to Jesse. "Do you have to go too, Jesse?" 

Jesse laughed. "Nah, I'm okay, Mike. Let's go." 

Mike smiled. "Good. Everyone buckle up."

He pulled out of the gas station.

Jesse rubbed his hands together and looked at Mike.

"Looks like we're almost home free," he commented. 

"Yep," Mike agreed. "Hey? You kids wanna listen to the radio?"

Jesse pouted playfully. "You never let me listen to the radio."

"You must be ten years old or younger to listen to the radio in my car. Who here's younger than ten?"

Gary shyly raised his hand.

Holly held up her hand, too. "I'm seven," she declared.

Jesse grinned. "Sometimes I ACT younger than ten. Does that count?"

"No." Mike said.

Gary and Holly giggled.

"So kids, would you like the radio on?"

"Yes please!" Holly chimed.

"Jesse, find a station."

Jesse reached over and flicked through the stations. As much as he wanted to linger on the heavy metal one, he figured that Slipknot probably wasn't the best thing for them to be listening to. Finally he found a pop station that appeared to be playing some sort of boy band. 

Mike rolled his eyes a bit. It wasn't his taste in music, but that was sort of the point wasn't it.

"Jonas Brothers," Holly pointed out

Gary gave an absentminded nod.

Jesse had no idea who the hell the Jonas Brothers were. He assumed, however, that they were brothers.

"You like them, Holly?" he asked. 

Holly nodded.

"They're cool. I have a lunch box with their pictures on it."

"That's cool," Jesse replied with a smile. "My son watches that show with the... kid who's randomly into dinosaurs. Dino Dan."

Gary's eyes widened a little.

"I watch Dino Dan."

"You do?" Jesse asked, smiling. "Good for you, kiddo. He also watches that... Oh, what's the really trippy one? Yo Gabba Gabba."

Holly nodded, "I like D.J. Lance."

Jesse grinned. "That show is pretty weird, but I can dig it." He laughed. "Once I get Mike home, I'll show it to him."

Mike gave Jesse a sidelong glance. 

Jesse grinned back at the kids.

"He doesn't even know what he's in for." He looked at Gary and Holly. "You guys holding up okay?"

"Yeah," Gary said.

"Hmmhmm," Holly hummed. "Are we there yet?"

"In a few, Holly," Mike replied. "Like...five minutes."

Jesse grinned, waited a few moments, and then asked, "Are we there now?"

"Jesse, don't make me turn this car around," Mike said dryly.

Jesse tilted his head and laughed.

"Okay, okay," he told him. 

The corner of Mike's lip twitched with a hidden smile. Jesse. He had more than one reason to be glad that this job was almost over.

Jesse pressed his face against the window.

"I just saw a sign. Says Oz is the next right."

Mike changed lanes and followed the curve in the road.

"I've been thinking....Maybe I ought to just go in with you. Make sure they don't arrest you or something."

Jesse nodded.

"Okay," he replied. "But I mean, would a real kidnapper return his victims to a prison?"

"Probably not, but they might want to question us. And if they question the kids, well. How can we explain breaking into a house and leading them out?"

"You heard us crying?" Holly suggested.

Mike gave a small smile.

"That's a very smart idea, Holly, but we probably wouldn't have been able to without being in the house. Then they'd want to know why we were there."

"I was just thinking of telling the kids to say they escaped. Climbed out a window. There was this little girl that did that back home. It was on the news," Jesse said. 

"Makes sense...but if the FBI wants to know which house they got out of they wouldn't be able to tell them. There's a bit of a...mess."

"The kids probably weren't paying attention," Jesse pointed out. He turned to the kids. "Do you remember the address of that house?"

"Never saw it," Holly replied, wondering why that's important.

"You don't even remember the general direction right?" Mike pressed.

"No," Gary muttered. Holly shook her head.

"Then we're good. Listen, Kids, if anyone asks, you climbed out of a window, okay? And when you reached a road we picked you up."

"Why?" Holly asked.

"Because me and my friend can get into a lot of trouble if you don't say that. You don't want me and Jesse to get in trouble do you?"

"No," Gary said.

"Uh-uh," Holly agreed.

"So no matter what, that's the story you tell alright?"

The children nodded.

Jesse poked his head over.

"Can you say it for us?" he prompted. 

"We climbed out a window," Gary said. "And walked to the road and you guys picked us up and drove us to see Daddy."

Holly nodded. "Yep."

"That's right," Jesse said, "Good job. Your dad knows the whole story already so you can answer questions if he asks you but you can't tell anybody else, okay?"

"Okay," Gary said.

Holly nodded.

"Okay everyone, we're here," Mike said, parking the car.

Jesse popped open his door and stepped out. He looked across at Mike. "If this doesn't work... then... Well, I love you, Mike."

Mike stopped in his tracks and turned to look Jesse in the eyes. "I love you too," he said, with a bit of awe in his tone. So this was real then? It wasn't all sly jokes and suggestions. They'd really give this a shot.

"Come on, let's get them inside."

Mike opened their car door and waited as Gary and Holly filed out with their respective teddy bears.

Jesse gently guided Gary in front of him. "Don't talk to anybody unless we say, okay? Until we know who's nice."

"Okay," Gary said.

Mike was already uneasy about this plan of action, but Jesse wouldn't send them in alone and Mike wasn't letting him get stuck inside alone.

At the front desk a CO looked over the counter.

"There's no visitation today."

"We aren't visiting," Mike informed him.

"These kids belong to a prisoner named Tobias Beecher," Jesse said, "We picked them up on the highway. They need a doctor, soon as possible." Jesse gestured to Gary. "This little boy has a severed finger."

The CO stood up and peered over the counter. "Jesus Christ, these are Beecher's kids? Hold on a minute."

He picked up the phone behind the desk. "Hey Glynn, you aren't gonna believe this."

Jesse stood protectively close to the children. A few moments later a broad-shouldered African-American man dressed in a suit walked into the room.

"Holy shit," he commented. He stared at Jesse and Mike, then at the kids. "Get Dr. Nathan on the line. Let's get these kids to the infirmary. We won't tell Beecher until I know what the hell is going on here."

"Sure thing," the CO replied. "Dr. Nathan? Yeah, we have some kids that need to go to the infirmary...Yeah, I said kids. It's important, be ready to take them."

He then buzzed them in, opening the gate.

Mike led them through the gate.

Glynn let Jesse go with the kids towards the infirmary, but gestured to Mike. "I want to talk with you."

"Sure thing," Mike said, keeping an eye on Jesse as they left. "What is it?"

Glynn looked at him, putting his hands at his sides.

"I'm going to start off by saying I don't buy your bullshit story for a second."

Mike shrugged, looking like a bored old man.

"I wouldn't believe a guy who said that to me either."

Glynn sighed. "Honestly? I don't care how you ended up getting those kids, just that you got them. I'm giving you the benefit of the doubt and not calling the FBI until you and your friend are long gone."

***

Jesse walked with the kids until they were in a large room, filled with hospital beds and facing a pretty, dark-skinned Latina woman. 

Dr. Nathan had been waiting for them but she was still slightly shocked by their arrival. She walked over briskly.

"Hello, I'm Dr. Nathan. I have two beds right this way Mr..? "

"Uh...." Jesse trailed off a moment, not wanting to give his real last name. "White." He gestured to the kids. "They... uh... well, Gary here, he has... show her your hand, honey."

Dr. Nathan's eyes widened, but she spoke calmly.

"Okay, come right this way all of you."

She led them to one of the beds.

"Gary, honey, can you hop up here?"

Gary looked at the bed. "Too high."

"Do you -" Jesse paused before he realized "need a hand" would be a BAD choice of words. "Need some help getting up there?"

Gary nodded.

Jesse gently wrapped his arms around Gary's middle and lifted him on to the bed. "There you go," he told him. 

"Thank you," Gary said.

"Gary can you give me your hand?" Dr. Nathan asked.

Gary lifted his tiny injured hand and placed it in Dr. Nathan's.

"Now I'm going to have to take this bandaging off. It might sting a little, okay?"

Jesse reached over and took Gary's good hand in his, giving it a reassuring squeeze.

Dr. Nathan gently began to tug at the bandages and was not surprised that more force was needed. She pulled a little harder and as the strips started to pull up with the blood and some of the healing skin Gary yelped.

"Oooow!" he whined, face scrunching up to cry.

Holly was immediately at his side, raising her hand and placing it on his knee.

"Think of ice cream, Gary."

Jesse's heart lurched. He squeezed Gary's hand a little tighter. "It's okay, Gary. You're being so brave." He reached out and stopped Gary's teddy bear from falling off the bed. "It's all going to be over soon, kiddo." 

Dr. Nathan smiled a little. If she didn't know any better, she'd say this was a happy little family. In a few seconds all the bandages over the stump were off and she could get a good look at the injury.

Gary was crying silently, big tears pouring down his face.

"He's got an infection."

Jesse winced before looking back at her. "Can... can you treat it? It... it's not going to spread is it?" He bit his lip, terrified. What if she had to cut off this kid's entire hand? 

"It looks like we caught this early. I'm going to prescribe some heavy antibiotics to combat this. I'll be right back."

Dr. Nathan turned on her heel and walked towards the medical supplies room.

Jesse looked at Gary and Holly. "That means you ought to be okay, Gary," he told the boy. "You were so brave." He looked over at Holly. "And that was so nice of you, helping your brother like that. You're great kids."

At this point, Ryan O'Reily happened to meander into the infirmary. He had told Pancomo that he felt sick, but really he just wanted another opportunity to profess his love to Dr. Nathan. 

Dr. Nathan returned with a syringe and full syringe and quickly spotted Ryan in the room. She sighed, both excited and annoyed to see him. What bad timing?

"Okay, Gary, I'm going to need you to be a good boy and be very still okay."

"I don't want a shot," Gary whimpered, still crying.

Holly looked at Jesse.

"Jeez," Ryan announced. "I've heard of charging kids as adults but don't you think this is going a bit far, Gloria?"

Jesse glared at him and looked over at Gary.

"It's okay, honey. It'll only hurt for a second and then it's all over, okay?" He wondered why the hell they didn't have Beecher down here already. The kid needed his father. Jesse's mind scrambled. "How about this, honey - can you close your eyes for me? Shut them really tight until I say open them, okay?"

Dr. Nathan gritted her teeth and ignored Ryan.

Gary frowned deeply and nodded. He took a shuddering breath and closed his eyes. 

Holly was getting anxious watching.

Dr. Nathan cleaned off the spot on his arm where the needle would go and stuck it in, trying to make it as quick and painless as possible.

Gary whined as he felt a pinch and squeezed Jesse's hand.

It was at that moment that Chris Keller walked by the infirmary.

Jesse wrapped his arms around Gary. "All over. You can open your eyes now okay?"

Ryan made his way swiftly over to Keller.

"Yo, K-boy! Lemme ask you something. You... you ever seen Beecher's kids? Like, seen a picture of them?" 

Keller stopped and walked to the doorway.

"What are you on about O' Reilly?"

"Just answer me. Beecher's kids. Boy and a girl, right? Young? The daughter's .... not... uh... blonde by any chance?" O'Reily pressed on. 

"Yeah...yeah that's them. What, you heard news about them?"

Ryan shook his head. "Man, I just saw two kids who look exactly like that getting checked out by Dr. Nathan. One of them's missing his ring finger. Looks pretty grizzly." He looked around. "She keeps ignoring me, man. She needs to stop playing hard to get when we both know she wants me."

"You're saying the kids are here? There are kids in here?" 

Keller walked into the infirmary.

Jesse was still in the midst of comforting Gary.

"You did so good," he told him gently. "So brave." He looked over at Dr. Nathan. "I don't know if... there's anything else wrong, once you get done with his hand. They got... hit and kicked by the guy who had them."

Dr. Nathan nodded.

"Gary? Can you show me where he kicked and hit you?"

Gary pointed to his slightly bruised elbow and his side.

"Can you pull up your shirt for a second honey?"

Gary pulled up his shirt, revealing a big purple bruise on his back.

Keller stared in amazement. He turned around immediately and ran out to get Toby.

****

Meanwhile, Glynn still had Mike in his office.

"I'm assuming I'm not going to get the real story out of you?" he pressed. 

"If by real story you mean something other than what I told you? No," Mike said, looking much older than his age at the moment. His eyelids drooped and his voice was slow and droning.

Glynn sighed, shaking his head for a moment before opening his eyes a little wider.

"Wait. Hold the presses." He reached down and grabbed a pair of glasses. "I know you."

"You do?" Mike said, seemingly unstartled.

"Yeah. Mike Ehrmantraut. You were a Philly cop back when I was working as a C.O. at Graterford."

Mike squinted his eyes a moment, dropping the act in curiosity. He took a guess.

"Leo Glynn?"

"One and the same," Glynn replied. "It's been, what, twenty years? Thought you dropped off the face of the Earth."

Mike smiled. 

"Yeah, it's been a while. I see you graduated."

"Indeed. Wish I hadn't, dealing with this bunch." He shrugged. "The young guy - he your son?"

"Nah, I've just taken to looking after him I suppose. You know how it is. Young guy needs guidance and you get sort of attached."

Glynn nodded. "I know how that feels. Beware - they drive you nuts after a while if you let them." He sighed, shaking his head. "Anyway, listen. I really hope you know what you've gotten yourself into. I have a distinct suspicion you and your young friend snatched those kids back from whichever one of Schillinger's friends had them. And he's not going to be happy about getting bested."

"Well, all I can say is that if that were the case I'd be capable of handling it. Those years working the streets of Philly aren't lost to me."

"Oh, I have full faith that you know how to handle yourself," Glynn replied. "I'm just giving you a heads up. Schillinger runs with a scary pack."

"Thank you, Leo," Mike said with a little smile. "Is that all you wanted to say?"

"That and... thank you for bringing those kids to Beecher. It's been a long time since there's been good news here."

"Seeing as this is a maximum security prison I can imagine," Mike said with a laugh.

Glynn sighed and rubbed his forehead. "Even apart from that, my life is currently a mess, so I have to say I'm pretty glad this one didn't end the way I thought it would."

Mike's smile wavered a bit. "Yeah, this one I think'll turn out okay. Listen, if you want to talk about it, your life I mean, we can. Not right now, exactly seeing as me and the Kid need to hit the road but, you could always look me up."

"It might be best if we didn't," Glynn replied, "Not because I don't want to, but... Considering how things have been lately, and considering the type of work I think you probably traffic in these days, I might end up asking you to do something that would get me in trouble. But I won't breathe a word of your being here. Two guys picked them up on the road, dropped them off, and left." He smiled at Mike. 

"I understand, and I appreciate that," Mike said, only slightly disappointed. It'd be nice to have friends his old age who weren't in "the business". 

***

Chris Keller had run straight into his pod, raising more than a few eyebrows as he went. A couple of CO's readied their batons and walked after him.

"Toby!" Chris exclaimed with a huge grin.

Toby sat up on his bunk, putting down the book he had been trying to read yet had been unable to focus on.

"Chris?" he asked. "What is it?" 

Chris swooped in and put his hands on Toby's knees. 

"Your kids are here."

Toby ogled at him.

"...Huh?"

Chris took the book from Toby and tossed it to the floor, then he grabbed Toby's hands. 

"Your kids are here, Toby. They're alive. Come on," he said, starting to pull Toby off the bed.

"What? Why... they're here?" Toby let Chris pull him, but he didn't know what to think. Was he dreaming? Could he be dreaming? 

Chris pulled Toby off the bed and out of the pod, he was trying to run but Toby was being so slow. 

"Come on, Beecher! Move your ass!"

"What's going on?" Busmalis called.

"Beecher's kids are here! They're okay!"

Toby finally let Chris pull him, running along with him. He was convinced that either he was dreaming or Chris had completely lost his mind, but either way he was going to be along for the ride. 

The CO's chased them, yelling at them to slow down and get back.

Chris ran Toby right to the infirmary, in past Ryan.

***

Gary was as patched up as he could be at the moment and Holly was getting looked over.

Jesse was still gently consoling them.

"The doctor's a nice lady, isn't she?" he asked Gary gently as he tussled his hair.

Toby stopped dead in his tracks and came very close to falling over when he saw them.

"GARY! HOLLY!" he yelled. 

Gary smiled up at Jesse, but hearing his father yell, he turned around.

"DADDY!" he shouted, running towards him with wide arms. "DADDY, DADDY!"

Holly squirmed, almost jumping down but she was too high up.

Jesse reached over and gently picked her up, placing her safely on the ground as he gazed over at Toby.

Toby opened his mouth, but sound didn't come out. All he could do was run towards Gary in turn, scooping him up into his arms and hugging him tight. 

"Daddy, I love you!" Gary exclaimed, cheek squished against Toby's. He hugged his arms around his Dad's neck for dear life.

Holly clung like a magnet to Toby's right leg.

Toby burst into tears. He wrapped his arms around both of them as best he could.

"I love you too, baby. I love you both so much! My babies... You're back. Oh my God."

Jesse watched, overcome with emotion himself. Things would be right, now. He had to hope that was true. 

Chris grinned widely, happy beyond belief. Thank God they were alive. His eyes darted to the man standing beside Gloria. Who was he?

Holly and Gary squeezed in together as best they could. Holly kissed her Daddy's cheek and Gary started to cry.

"I missed you so much," he said, voice cracking.

"I missed you too," Toby whispered back. "I love you... so much." Toby squeezed them as close to him as he could without hurting them. He never wanted to let go. "Everything's okay now, okay?"

Jesse slowly approached the scene. He had to wipe tears from his own eyes. 

"Okay," Gary said, wiping his face with his sleeve.

"Okay, Daddy," Holly echoed.

Toby hugged them for a very long time, but it still felt like it wasn't enough.

Jesse didn't want to interrupt, but he slowly crouched down next to them.

"Hey... so... you're Mr. Beecher? Can I... talk to you for just a second?"

"Yeah..." Toby said softly. He looked over at Dr. Nathan. "D'you... need to finish checking them over?" He was reluctant; he didn't want them out of his arms ever again. 

"No, I've done all I can for them. If you need to talk privately of course, I could always..." she glanced at Jesse, waiting to see if they'd need the privacy.

"I... Thank you," Jesse said. When she moved out of the room, he looked at Toby, who made no move to tell Chris to leave. "Hey... I just... Wow. I... helped, the guy who you met... before. I just want you to know that... I'm returning my cut of the money I paid. To you. I can't take money for this. It's yours."

Chris smiled a bit. These guys did a better job than he was expecting and this guy in particular seemed like a decent human being. How'd he get involved in this shit? 

Gary and Holly turned to look at Jesse, eyes wide and uncomprehending.

Jesse crouched down and smiled at Gary and Holly. "Mike and I have got to hit the road," he told them. "Could I get one last hug from you two?"

Gary unlatched from his father and gave Jesse a big hug. Holly did the same.

Jesse squeezed them tightly. "It was fun hanging out with you guys. Take care of your dad, okay? And Gary, remember what I said about it not being your fault okay? You kids are awesome."

"Thank you for bringing us to Daddy," Holly said.

"Yeah...and being so nice," Gary added.

"And for the teddy bears," Holly added.

"You're welcome, you guys." Jesse smiled, his heart swelling. He gently let go of them and mimed tipping his hat to Toby before leaving to go find Mike.

***

Mike was just outside the infirmary.

"Hey, you said goodbye and everything?"

"Yeah," Jesse said with a smile. "They're doing good. Beecher's cuddling them like there's no tomorrow."

***  
Toby looked at his kids and then over to Chris.

"Hey, Gary. Holly. There's someone I'd like you to meet."

Chris's smile faded in surprise. Was Toby really gonna introduce him to his kids?

"This... this is my friend, Chris. He's really.... important to me," Toby told them. 

Chris covered his mouth for a moment, still surprised.

The kids looked from their Dad to Chris.

"Who is he?" Holly prompted.

Toby took a deep breath, looking from Chris to the kids and then back again.

"Chris... uh... Chris is Daddy's boyfriend."

Gary grinned widely. "Daddy has a boyfriend?"

Holly's jaw dropped. "Wow."

Chris blushed, grinning behind his hand. He knelt down too.

"That's right. I'm your dad's...boyfriend," he said, glancing at Toby and grinning.

Toby blushed. This day was getting considerably weirder than he had foreseen it turning out, but his kids were safe and Chris loved him and everything, for right now, was going to be okay.

"Yep," Toby told them. He reached around and hugged Gary to him first, then Holly. "More importantly, how are you guys holding up?"

"I lost my finger," Gary said immediately, with only a hint of sadness. He lifted his hand to show his Dad.

"I'm okay...I had a cut but Dr. Nathan gave me a pretty bandaid."

Toby had been trying to avoid looking at Gary's hand, but now he found it inescapable. He gently held Gary's little wrist in his hand, looking as he found himself unable to stop from breaking down as he wrapped his arms around his son. 

Chris put his hands on Toby's shoulders.

Gary shook a little. He had been pretty numb to losing it for the past few days, but he started to cry too.

Holly did her best to hug them both.

Dr. Nathan stood back, staring in a sort of dazed awe at this tiny, broken little family.

Toby gave a thankful nod at Chris before wrapping his arms around Gary and Holly. "I'm so sorry that you guys were hurt and scared. I love you so much... I'm so sorry."

"It's not your fault," Gary said, echoing Jesse's words. If they made him feel better, then maybe they'd make Daddy feel better.

Toby was finding it hard to believe that, but he cuddled the kids closer. "I wished every night that I'd see you... and you're here... How did they even find you?"

Holly nudged her brother. "On the side of the road. We climbed out a window."

"It's okay, honey," Toby coaxed, "I know that Jesse and Mike came and got you. You can tell us. Chris knows too."

"Oh...well we don't know how they got there..."

"They broke down the door," Gary said helpfully.

Toby gently ran his hand over Gary's hair. "Were they nice to you?"

"They were really nice," Gary said with a sage nod.

"And they got us teddy bears," Holly added.

"And funyuns," Gary said.

Toby grinned.

"That's so nice." He held them close again.

Unbeknownest to him, Schillinger had chosen that moment to roll through with the mail cart. 

Holly put her arms around her father's neck, getting a glimpse at the man behind them.

Toby ran his hands through Holly's hair. "My babies! I love you so much..."

Schillinger stopped dead in his tracks. "WHAT THE FUCK?!?" he exclaimed. 

Chris turned around with a smug grin.

"Schillinger! Hey, look what we found! They're both fine. Looks like we were wrong about you being behind this, sorry for all the hassle," Chris said, obviously sarcastic. "Well, aren't you happy?"

Schillinger looked at him furiously, before it mixed with panic. "What the fuck did you do to Hank?!"

"Who?" Chris asked.

Holly and Gary buried their heads in their father's chest.

Schillinger ran at him. "My fucking son! Where's Hank?!"  
Toby hugged his kids tightly and fled in the direction of Dr. Nathan, pulling them with him.

Chris was still honestly confused, but that didn't stop him from springing to his feet and tackling Schillinger at the waist.

Holly screamed and Gary clutched his father's shirt for dear life.

Dr. Nathan called for help.

Toby held the kids close.  
"It's okay, it's okay!" He told them desperately, "You're safe, you're safe." He pulled them over to where Ryan O'Reily was still standing, putting Ryan between them and Schillinger.

 

Chris punched Schillinger in the gut with his left hand and used his right to grip the old man's throat.

Toby hid his children's eyes.  
Ryan yelped.  
"Holy shit man! Someone get a fuckin' hack! Where's that bitch Howell now?!"

The hacks weren't too far behind, yanking Chris roughly off of Shillinger and pinning the furious Aryan Nation leader down.

Toby kept his arms around Gary and Holly, shielding them.

Ryan waved his arm and yelled. "Yeah you Nazi fuck! That's what you get you rapist piece of shit!"

Holly gave out a shrill little cry at all the noise.

Chris brushed the hacks off him. "He started it!"

"I want you all out of my infirmary!" Dr. Nathan exclaimed. "Beecher, can you take your children to the children's visiting room? And Ryan, get out! You're not even sick!"

"Yes I am! I have a horrible cough!" Ryan called back, before summoning up a large, fake cough. "You need to examine me, Gloria!"

Toby shook his head, gently leading his kids out of the infirmary and into the much quieter children's visiting room. As there was no visiting on this day, they had it to themselves. 

"Out O'Reily!" Dr. Nathan snapped.

Gary and Holly walked into the room quietly, all tears dried and fear draining away. Gary remained slightly anxious, clinging to his father's leg, while Holly inspected the doll collection.

Toby crouched down and lovingly ran his hand over Gary's hair. "Hey, Gary," he called gently. 

"Daddy, I love you," Gary said, remembering all that time in the basement. How scared he was and how much he just wanted to be home with his family.

"I love you too, baby," Toby comforted. "I'm so glad to see you. So, so glad. Now I...." He gently tilted up Gary's chin so he could look at him. "Now, Jesse said something about you thinking this was your fault."

Gary sniffled and looked down. 

"I took stuff from strangers," he confessed. "I'm really really sorry."

Toby hugged him tighter. "It's okay. You weren't bad. It was just an accident okay, Gary? Not your fault."

Gary nodded.

"Thank you, Daddy."

Toby leaned in and kissed Gary's forehead. "Jesse was right, honey. It wasn't your fault at all. And you and your sister were very, very brave. And good. And I love you both."

"I love you too, Daddy," Holly said, putting down the doll she was holding and walking over to hug him. "And it's not your fault, Gary."

"Okay....Daddy can we stay here? I don't want to go back to Grandma's house."

Toby could feel his heart breaking. "I'm sorry, honey. You can't stay here. They don't have rooms for kids to live in."

"Can't you come with us?" Gary asked. 

"I'm sorry," Toby told him. "I have to stay here. But I'll come home as soon as I can. I promise."

Gary was quiet for a long minute. Then he pressed his face into his Dad's shirt and mumbled "Okay." 

"But I'm..." Toby said softly, "I'm gonna ask your Grandma to bring you by way more often."

"Okay," Gary murmured again, nodding his head.

"Do you... wanna play something?" Toby asked. This still all felt like a mirage.

"Yeah," Holly said, walking over to the stack of family board games. "You wanna play Connect 4?" 

"I'd love to," Toby replied. He scootched over towards the game.

Holly set to work building the little game up and set it on the table. "I get to be red."

Toby smiled. "Do you want to be a team?"

Gary looked up at his Dad. "Yeah."

Toby smiled and nodded. He knew he would let them win already.


	11. Chapter 11

"So how was it?" Mike asked in the car, pulling out of the parking lot. "Did Beecher give you a hard time? They question you?"

"Beecher just seemed relieved," Jesse explained. "And there was so much going on that no one really paid much attention to me. What about you? What did that guy want?"

"Oh well, you know..." Mike said, being vague about it. A couple of months ago he would have brushed that question off completely, but he realized that he really wanted to share. "Turns out I know that guy from back in Philly. He was training to be a Correctional officer while I was a beat cop back in the day."

Jesse's eyes went wide. "Is.... is he gonna tell anyone about you?" He hoped that Mike wasn't going to suggest eliminating the Warden. 

"No, no, he just wanted to give us some warning about the Aryan Nation. Nothing I didn't already know."

Jesse let out a sigh of relief. "Okay... Well, that's good. I mean we already knew they were bad dudes."

Mike smiled a little. "We can take 'em. And even if we couldn't they probably don't know where we live."

Jesse batted his eyes at Mike. "You'll protect me if they come after me?"

"Of course I would," Mike said, missing the joke.

Jesse smiled. "I'd protect you, too. Or try, at least."

"Kid, that's sweet of you," Mike said."But I'd really just want to know that you're safe."

Jesse blushed. "Well, I've tried to stay out of trouble."

Mike glanced at Jesse. "Yeah...I noticed...Jesse, are you okay? Are you tired?"

"No... I'm not tired," Jesse responded. "I'm fine, Mike."

"Nooo, no, Kid. Don't play tough for me. You look beat."

"Mike! I'm fine..." Jesse raised an eyebrow.

"Jesse, we're stopping at a hotel. You're gonna get a proper rest."

Jesse started to protest, but he realized that a hotel was exactly where he wanted to go with Mike. "Alright," he acquiesced. 

Mike smirked a little, knowing Jesse had caught on.

"Two beds?" Jesse teased, knowing he only wanted Mike to ask for one.

"Oh sure, Kid. Two separate rooms even. We wouldn't want this trip getting unprofessional," Mike teased back.

"Well, I wouldn't want you to be out the extra money," Jesse replied with a grin, batting his eyes and giving him a flirtatious look.

"Oh well that's true. but you know, two beds might cost more than one."

"Well, then, it's only... cost-efficient.. to just get one," Jesse whispered, leaning in closer to Mike.

"Yeah, so long as we don't fight under the covers," Mike said, glancing at him.

Jesse blushed hard. "Would you want to?" he asked, daring to let his hand brush Mike's cheek,

Mike shifted in hist seat towards Jesse. 

"Well, I'd want to do something. Wouldn't be fighting," Mike said, taking an exit that led to the nearest motel.

"Oh?" Jesse played innocent, coy. "What would you like to do?"

"I'd like to slip all your clothes off and lay you down on the bed. I want touch you, feel if your skin is as soft it looks. Then I'd want to taste you, slide my tongue against your cheek and into your mouth."

Jesse let out a little squeak and looked straight at Mike. His cock was beginning to harden against his pants. "What... what after that?"

"I would stroke your little ass and rub our cocks against each other, until you're nice and hard. Then I'd squeeze inside you and we could go all night."

Jesse's jaw hung open. "Oh my God, Mike." His cock throbbed. "Please tell me more..."

"I want to feel the inside of you. Feel you pulse all around me. Wanna hear every sound you make," Mike said, eyes slightly glazed. He noticed the motel ahead, thank God.

Jesse let out a moan. "Oh yeah... Mike... Yes. Please! I want you to! Please do all that to me... I want you inside me. So deep inside me... I want you to fuck me hard, make me breathless... Cum inside me."

Mike took a deep breath. His cock was uncomfortably pressed against the front of his pants as he pulled into the parking lot. 

"Kid, I need you to stay right here, alright?" Mike said, twisting to look at him. "Stay right here, I'll be back."

 

"Okay," Jesse replied sunnily. "I'm not really ready to stand up right now."

Mike fumbled with his seatbelt and climbed out of the car. He speed-walked into the motel and slammed the motel bell several times. The guy working the counter didn't look too pleased.

"I need a room. King-sized bed," Mike said.

"That's $24 a night." 

"Done," Mike said, tossing a $50 on the counter. "Keep the change."

The guy tossed a pair of keys at Mike, who glanced at the number and walked back out to the car.

"18C, come on."

Jesse put his hands in his lap, trying to wait patiently. It was hard, though, quite literally.

Mike opened the door and unbuckled Jesse's seatbelt. He closed one arm around Jesse's waist and kissed him passionately.

Jesse opened his mouth to let Mike in. He was surprised at how natural it felt; kissing another man...

Mike slipped his tongue into Jesse's mouth, and pulled him closer with both arms.

"Mmmmmm..." Jesse murmured when he pulled his lips back to get some air. "I want you to fuck me so bad... I can't wait..." He was breathless. "I can't wait to see how big your cock is."

"Come on," Mike breathed, pulling Jesse out of the car and hastily locking it before slamming it shut. 

He held Jesse's arm and led him down the line of doors to their room. He unlocked it and stepped inside.

Jesse grinned widely as they got into the room. "Yeah, Mike," he gasped out. "I can't wait to feel your hard cock inside me... Hell, Mike, what are we going to...uh... use for lube? Do we have any?"

Mike smirked, laying a soft kiss on Jesse's lips. 

Pulling back he murmured. "I'll see what I can do."

He then proceeded to ransack the nightstand's drawers and the bathroom. He returned with half a bottle of Astroglide. He tossed it on the bed and wrapped his arms around Jesse again.

"You're ready, right? I mean seriously, Kid. If you're not comfortable you say the word."

"I'm ready," Jesse said with a smile. "I mean... I know it'll probably hurt a little bit. But that... I'm okay with that."

Mike gave a small honest smile and kissed Jesse again. 

"I'm gonna do my best to make sure it doesn't hurt, okay Kid?"

"I'm not scared," Jesse responded flirtily. "I don't care if your big, hard cock tears me up."

"Ahh, Jesse," Mike said, pressing a hard kiss on Jesse's mouth, guiding him down onto the bed.

Jesse laid back, eagerly moving his hands to his pants and undoing the button. "Mike..." He whined. "You're so fucking... so fucking hot. You look so hot."

"Jesse," Mike breathed. "I want in."

He pulled off of Jesse and quickly unbuttoned his shirt and pants, tossing it all on the ground and the boxers went last.

"And I want you in," Jesse hissed back. It felt like his skin was burning, was on fire for Mike. "Am I turning you on? I want you in my tight ass... wanna close around you like a glove."

"Believe me, Jesse. Arousal isn't an issue here," Mike growled, crawling over Jesse and pressing their bare cocks together. "You really want me that bad?”

"Yeah!" Jesse cried out. "I want you to fuck me... right now, Mike. I'm so pumped up. I don't wanna wait." 

Mike smirked. Jesse didn't have a clue what he was getting into. Neither did Mike really, but he wasn't likely to be injured in this scenario. "Let's get to work then."

Mike reluctantly stopped grinding against him to squeeze lube on his fingers. He pressed a finger gently against Jesse's entrance.

"Deep breath, Kid," Mike said.

Then he pressed his finger in.

Jesse breathed deep, relaxing against the finger. It was a strange feeling, though not all together unpleasant. He was pretty convinced that he was past feeling pain at this point - pulling off this operation was the biggest high he'd ever felt, more than meth or heroin or even getting his magnet plan to work. 

Mike licked his lips and glanced at Jesse's face. No pain so far as he could tell. He squeezed lube onto a second finger. "Kay, Kid. Stay relaxed. Second finger coming up."

He gave Jesse two seconds before squeezing his second finer in.

"Mmmmmmm..." Jesse purred out. "Mike. Fill me." He let himself adjust to Mike's fingers as he let out a low hum. "Fill me all the way."

Mike moaned low in his chest, and slicked up a third finger. Determined not to let his raging erection get the best of him.

"Last one, Jesse. Hold on," he said, voice strained by his want. 

He pressed the third finger in.

Jesse pressed his tongue into his cheek. "Mike. Ahhhhh." He felt so full. So stretched. It burned a little but that was somehow part of the appeal. 

Mike kept his fingers still for a moment. 

"You okay, Kid?"

"Yeah, Mike," Jesse whispered back. "It's just... it's intense. It's pretty... pretty intense. Just let me... get used to it a few seconds." He smiled. "It's like... kinda overloading my system a little. You're blowing out my speakers."

Mike chuckled softly. 

"You take as long as you need," he said, reaching down to stroke himself. The wait wasn't getting any easier for him, but he would wait, for Jesse's sake.

Jesse took that moment to look over and really take in the sight of Mike's cock. "How do you fit it all in your pants?" he asked coyly.

"I make a point of not getting hard at inappropriate times," Mike said dryly.

Jesse giggled. "What about when I'm around?" he asked, "Can you help it, then?" He reached out and grabbed Mike's wrist, trying to force the fingers deeper.

Mike sank his fingers in deeper, giving Jesse a lascivious look.

"It's hard," Mike said, pun intended. "But I try to keep it contained."

Jesse let out a long moan. "Ohhhhhh my God Mike. That feels so... and you're... even bigger than that. How is it even going to fit?"

"It'll fit, Jesse," Mike assured him. "It'll fit like a hand in a glove."

He sank his fingers in further, experimentally stretching them a little inside.

"Miiiiike," Jesse whined out, long and low. "I didn't... didn't even know I could stretch like that. It's like.... like I was waiting for you all this time."

Mike inhaled deeply. Jesse was making waiting so difficult. He stroked his cock with his free hand as slowly as he could. 

"Kid," He said through gritted teeth. "Does it still hurt?"

"Not really," Jesse told him. "It's more... just like everything's turned on at once. There's a little... burn, but it actually feels good." He closed his eyes and opened them again. "I'm ready Mike, please fuck me..."

Mike couldn't wait to be told twice. He closed his fingers and slipped them out. Quickly, he spread the lube over his cock and climbed back over Jesse, positioning himself over his entrance.

"Kid," he breathed before leaning down and pressing a hard kiss to his lips. He pulled back and growled out, "I love you."

He used a hand to guide his way in and pushed into Jesse as slowly as he could manage.

Jesse closed his eyes and let his mouth hang open.

Much as he wanted it, his body tensed up, not quite ready for all of Mike yet.

"You love me?" he whispered. "I love you too, Mike."

It felt good, so tight, inside of Jesse, but Mike could tell something was wrong and with great effort he stopped the engine, holding still so Jesse could adjust, if he even could. He was caught up, looking in Jesse's eyes. They had just shared a huge moment here and while his cock was throbbing, Mike was more aware of the way his heart swelled and his body felt like hot sparks were shooting through it. God, he was beautiful...and Mike didn't usually describe men as beautiful but Jesse....ahhh Jesse. He wanted to fuck him senseless and rock him to sleep all at once. 

"Miiiiike..." Jesse whispered. "Ahhhhh...." His moan seemed to be equal parts tension, but not much pain, and pleasure. Slowly he opened, as he focused ever muscle on relaxing, on letting Mike in. Wanting him to stay awhile.

Mike eased his way in as he felt the tension melt. He had to close his eyes for a second because it felt so good. "Jesse, you feel amazing....So hot and tight. I'm gonna make this good for you Jesse, I promise."

"You already are." Jesse let out a breath he hadn't realized he was holding. "So good."

"I'm glad, Kid. That means I can make it better," he breathed.

Mike settled as far in as he could, taking a second to appreciate that they had gotten this far.

"I'm gonna move. You tell me if it's too soon, okay?" 

He slid out slowly.

Jesse rolled his head from side to side. "I can't wait," he whispered. "Want you to fuck me so good Mike... Thrust in me..."

Mike shivered and thrust into Jesse.

"Ahhhhh!" Jesse cried out. It was like something had burst inside of him that had been building all his life, waiting for this moment. "Oh, Mike... Mike..." 

"Oh Jesse," Mike whispered, pulling back and thrusting in again.

Jesse dug his nails into Mike's back, holding on for dear life. "Miiiiike... I...." He was breathless. 

Mike growled deep in his throat, rocking in and out of Jesse steadily. "Kid...Tell me how it feels..."

"Oh God..." Jesse let out a huge breath of air. "It feels so good, Mike... Feels like... like you're... stretching me everywhere. Like you're... like you're... just in me... like part... part of me!" He shifted to give Mike even more access. 

Mike gritted his teeth and thrust hard into Jesse after he moved. "It's good for me too, Kid. So good...being this close to you...inside of you.." Mike said, pausing to take a breath as he rocked in hard again. "I don't know how long I'm gonna last, but I'll do my best for you...always Jesse. I want you to cum."

"Mmmmmm," Jesse moaned out. "I want to. I want to cum for you Mike! You did this to me... how do you... do this to me? Everything's... so good..."

Mike smiled, honestly glad. He'd never done anything like this before and there weren't really words for how amazing this was for him. He could only imagine how it was for Jesse, but thank God he didn't seem to be in any pain. Mike felt a little unstable, not being in complete control of his thrusts. He knew he was close. "Love you, Jesse...want you to cum for me...come on."

"Touch me, Mike," Jesse gasped out, "I'm... I'm gonna.... Just need you to touch me and God... yeah, I'll cum for you!" He jerked his head back. "Mike!"

Mike gritted his teeth a little. This would take some balance on his part, but he'd try for Jesse. Propping himself on one arm he reached down and grabbed Jesse's cock firmly but not too tight. He gave it a rough stroke.

"Mike - oh God! Ohhhhh Mike," Jesse whined. "So close... I'm gonna... just one... one more." He shut his eyes. It was too much to keep them open. 

Mike stroked Jesse again, giving him a hard thrust at the same time.

Jesse's head snapped back and he cried out as he came hard. He was out of breath; his throat started to burn with how much he'd been yelling Mike's name. 

Mike placed his hand back beside Jesse to keep his balance and was forced to stay still while Jesse orgasmed, clamping tightly all around him. He shut his eyes tightly and as soon as there was an opening he thrust two more times quickly before he came too, gripping the bed sheets tightly.

Jesse tried to catch his breath as Mike's seed flowed through him. He had never felt anything like it.

Mike eased himself down rather than collapsing on top of Jesse and took a few deep breaths. His hands, no longer needed to support his weight, slid up Jesse's sides and held him.

"Kid?" he whispered.

"Mmmm, Mike?" Jesse whispered back.

"Thanks. If you hadn't told me....how you felt, We might never have gotten here. Not that I don't like you. I would have been busy doing the P.I. thing and investigating whether you felt the same or not.”

Jesse laughed. "Why not just ask?"

"Because I've got too much pride," Mike admitted. "I mean, being turned down by a hot twenty-six year old would have been a major blow to my ego."

Jesse turned bright red. "I'm not hot, Mike!" He protested modestly.

"No, no, don't get all modest now. You're the sexiest guy I know."

"You must not know many," Jesse teased.

"Jesse, I run drug distribution. I know plenty."

 

"But they're probably all scabby."

"Scabby?" Mike asked, with a laugh. "Of all the...what makes you think they're scabby?"

"I've seen a lot of scabby people," Jesse replied sagely. "And I guarantee you the men you run into doing distribution - scabby."

"I mean the guys working for me, Kid. Not the users. Did you see Victor and Tyrus? They weren't scabby."

Jesse scratched at his chin. "Tyrus was a dick though. No offense."

"None taken," Mike said with a chuckle.

Jesse gnawed on his lower lip. "Did you ever like any of your 'guys' like you like me?"

"Nah, Kid. I mean, were some of them attractive? Sure. But, I certainly didn't see myself kissing any of them. Let alone winding up in bed together."

Jesse grinned widely. "Tell me about how I'm the first."

"You are the first man that I've ever been in love with. When I see you, my heart beats faster, I want to smile, and I want to kiss you every moment we're alone together..." Mike said, stroking Jesse's sides. "You know this was a lot better than my first time with a woman was?"

Jesse made a happy little hum. "Really? It was better than my first time with a woman too." He flushed, then teased, "When was your first time with a woman? Did it happen in black and white?"

Mike laughed. "Wow, are you this polite to all your lovers, Jesse? No, it did not happen in black and white. I was 17."

Jesse laughed. "Were you going off to war the next day? Was 'As Time Goes By' playing in the background?" He leaned in and kissed Mike's neck. "Did you give her your class ring?" 

Mike laughed. "You're real funny Kid. And no I didn't give her my class ring, just my Varsity jacket."

Jesse laughed. "That's kind of romantic, actually. You were in Varsity? What sport?"

"Basketball," Mike said. "Now I wasn't MVP but I was a good shot, and as for defense."

Mike paused with a smile.

"No one was getting by me."

Jesse grinned. "Nowadays they'd probably be frightened of what would happen if they did." He reached out and traced over Mike's chest with a finger lazily. "Tell me about it. Your first time."

"It wasn't exactly glamorous. It was just a normal date, dinner and a movie kind of thing. She had this dream of her first time being under the stars so after the date we took a few blankets and I drove us out of town. Yeah, yeah, I know I was a romantic...We found ourselves a nice little patch of grass under the stars, spread our blanket, and went from there. It was okay, I mean she had it a lot worse than I did. Sticks and rocks kept poking her, bugs started biting my ass, and the grass made us itch once it was all over with."

Jesse laughed hard. "Oh God! So it was the first time for both of you? At least you had a funny story. I mean... Not funny at the time. But funny afterwards." Jesse nuzzled into Mike's chest. "Mine was with a friend. Not even a girlfriend. Just a girl who was a friend."

"Oh really?" Mike asked. "Well, tell me about it."

"It was this girl, she was kinda... like smart. Geeky, y'know? We never really dated but we went to prom together... people used to laugh at her, y'know? And at me, too."

"People laughed at you? How many barrels do I need to get?" Mike teased.

Jesse laughed. "God, yeah. Every name in the book. They all called me stupid, ugly, whatever. Anyway, at prom y'know, the usual. They were picking on us and we just ended up at a hotel, fuckin'."

Mike smirked a little. 'Well, that sounds pleasant. It was okay right? Neither of you lost an eye?"

Jesse chuckled. "No. It was cool. Fun actually. I thought she might get weird about it.. but she didn't."

Mike smiled. 'Well, that's good, Kid. Are you still friends?"

Jesse shook his head, a little wistful. "She left to go to college. Swarthmore. I got a letter from her once or twice but she never came back to ABQ." 

"Too bad," Mike said. "You deserve more friends than me and Walter."

Jesse playfully pawed at Mike's chest. "I have other friends. Badger and Skinny Pete."

"Yeah, and them," Mike said. "You don't see much of them any more do you?"

Jesse shook his head. "Not really since I got clean for good. I mean, they were on the whole... 12-step thing for a bit too... but not anymore I don't think."

"Oh," Mike said softly. "This isn't because me and Walt are working you so hard, is it?"

Jesse shook his head. "No. Just since... y'know, the whole... crazy party... it's been kinda awkward to talk to them since they saw me that low."

"Did they even know what they were seeing?"

"No," Jesse said with a sigh, "I think they thought I just lost it."

"Well you not talking to them since then probably isn't helping that, is it?" Mike prodded gently.

Jesse flushed. "Well... yeah. Things have just been so busy."

Mike cuddled him closer. "Don't let me and Walter stop you from having a life, Jesse. Much as I'd like having you all to myself..."

He kissed Jesse's neck.

 

Jesse groaned. "Think Mr. White wants me all to himself, too."

Mike pushed down the spark of arousal that caused in him. It was just too strange to explore. "Well, that's not gonna happen."

Jesse laughed, leaning in to nip at Mike's ear. "I'm all yours."

Mike grinned. "Hey, are you trying to make my ears match?"

Jesse laughed. "You want me to nom on this one 'til they do? Nah... I like the one being a little different."

"Nom?" Mike asked with a chuckle. "I can take a guess at what that means, but wow. Kids these days and their slang." 

Jesse laughed again and nibbled on Mike's ear, voicing, "Nom nom nom... See?"

Mike laughed and kissed Jesse's cheek. "Point taken. I always learn something new from you, Kid."

Jesse's smile was bright. "I'm glad. I love you, Mike. I'll always teach you stupid young-people stuff. You know how to text, though, so that's half the battle right?"

"Yes, Jesse, I know how to text," Mike said with a smile.

Jesse giggled. Almost as if he had somehow summoned it up by speaking of it, Jesse's phone rang - the ringtone playing was "Don't Stand So Close to Me."

Mike raised an eyebrow.

"Don't answer," he teased, kissing Jesse's neck.

Jesse whined. "But I gotta. It's Mr. White. He'll yell otherwise."

"I'll deal with the yelling," Mike said, playfully licking Jesse's jaw.

"But what if it's important?" Jesse said as the phone continued to ring. He sighed, wanting to continue to cuddle with Mike but also being worried about Mr. White.

Mike groaned a little. They HAD left Walter alone, which was a disaster waiting to happen. "You're right, Kid. But if he starts to hassle you, pass it to me."

Jesse brightened. "Okay." He picked up the phone. "Hey?"

"Where in the hell have you been?" Walter snapped.

"I told you, Mr. White. Doing a job with Mike."

"You know what I meant," Walter replied sharply. "Now I realize you and Mike are having a lot of fun on your field trip, but production is a lot slower without you. And you tell Mike that if he wants his guys getting paid on time he had better send you on a plane back here immediately. Whatever's left for you two to do, he can do it himself."

"We're already on our way back," Jesse protested, "We're just stopping to get a little bit of rest. But Mr. White, you should have seen it! You should have seen us. We saved these kids..."

"That's nice, Jesse," Walter said, trying to sound as genuine as possible and falling several feet flat. "So, when will you be back?"

But Jesse was still riding high, ignoring Walt's lack of interest. "We burst in and, and the guy he fought with Mike, he really was gonna try and shoot him but Mike fought him off and... and... I went in and I got the kids out. They were scared but I... I kind of convinced them, and we ran out and... we drove them in. We took them to the prison, Mr. White! Craziest idea ever but it worked and... God, the guy's face when he saw 'em... You can't make this shit up, Mr. White."

"I'm sure you can't, Jesse. It sounds like you made a real difference in those children's lives. Now, when are you two coming back?" Walter pressed. 

"Jeez, Oscar the Grouch. Lemme have my moment for five seconds," Jesse groused. "We'll be back by tomorrow. I'm sure you're missing your... your goat or whatever."

Mike side-eyed Jesse, and so did Walt over the phone.

"What are you even trying to say?" Walt asked.

"You just make me your goat, man, when anything goes wrong," Jesse replied. 

Mike laughed, hard. "Scapegoat, Jesse. The word you want is scapegoat."

It wasn't about making fun of him. It had more to with how cute Jesse was, trying to describe what he meant.

"Whatever," Walter said. "Get back here."

He hung up.

Jesse put his phone back and flushed.

"He's such a jerk," he groused.

"I know, Baby," Mike said, kissing Jesse's neck. "You ready to go?"

Jesse groaned. "No. But I guess we ought to. Or else I'll have to hear Mr. White bitch for the rest of my life about it."

Mike smiled though he'd really rather stay as well. "Stay here...I'll clean out the car a little." 

"Okay," Jesse replied, "And Mike?"

"Yeah, Kid?"

"I'm glad we did this."

"So am I."


	12. Chapter 12

Toby rocked back and forth on the edge of his bunk.

"I still can't believe it, Chris."

"It happened, Toby. I promise it did. You got your kids home safely."

"They seemed... so happy to see me, Chris. Even after what happened, they just... they lit up! I couldn't believe it." Toby took a deep breath and swallowed. 

"Of course they were happy to see you. They thought they might never see you again."

"I just mean... I... I would blame me," Toby said softly. "They just... they just wanted to hug me."

"Toby, the only one to blame for all of this shit is Schillinger."

Toby scratched at his neck.

"Maybe. But I'm going to be the one who has to live with what happened to them."

"But you'll all be alive Toby. I think that's what you're missing about this whole thing," said Chris, getting up and moving to stand beside Toby's bunk. "Just enjoy this small victory, for me okay?"

"Okay," Toby acquiesced, putting a hand on Chris' shoulder. "Tonight they're sleeping in their own beds, safe and sound. That's what's important."

"Exactly," Chris said, wrapping an arm around him.

"And, Chris.... You've been great. I really want to make it up to you."

"Make what up to me?"

"I want to do something," Toby said, "To thank you for being so nice and patient." He stroked a hand over Chris' head. 

"I'd like that. You know you're always welcome."

Toby hopped off the bunk and took a quick look around to make sure no hacks were on the horizon.

"I love you, Chris."

"I love you too, Toby."

"Let's...." Toby began. "Want to show it?"

"You have to ask?" Chris said, nudging him towards the bottom bunk.

Toby moved to sit down. He had a big grin on his face.

"I don't always ask. Sometimes I tell."

Chris laughed quietly and kissed Toby as he climbed onto the bed.

Toby kissed back, eagerly, his tongue making his way into Chris' mouth. It felt like a huge burden had been lifted from his shoulders. 

Chris wrestled with Toby's tongue excitedly. He hadn't wanted to push Toby tonight. After all, he'd just got his kids back. But now there was no reason to hold back any more.

Toby breathed into Chris' mouth, like he was bringing him back from the dead. It felt more like the other way around, though. 

Chris placed a hand on Toby's chest and pushed him down.

"Oh God yeah, Chris," Toby breathed out, trying to stay as quiet as he could so the hacks couldn't hear. 

"Toby," Chris whispered, low and urgent. He quickly rolled his shirt up and off and pulled off his boxers.

Toby raced to match him, kicking off his boxers first and then wadding his shirt. He really hoped that Claire wasn't planning to ruin their time together this time. 

Chris calmly salivated on both of his hands and wiped them against his hard.

Toby met his eyes. "Have you been thinking about me, Keller?"

"All the time, Beecher," Chris replied, working as fast as he can.

Toby grinned. It felt like the first time in his life. "What do you think about doing to me?"

"I think about the early days. You and me working out and joking, acting like we didn't feel this way about each other. I think about how badly I wanted to be with you before you forgave me....I think about your smile and your eyes. And being inside you," Chris said, finally feeling slick enough to move on. "That answer your question?"

A blush rose to Toby's lips. "Would you have done anything in the world to get me back?"

"Anything, Toby. And I still would. If I ever lost you again," Chris said, climbing over him.

"You won't," Toby promised. He relaxed his muscles, in preparation for having Chris inside. 

Chris waited a few seconds to let Toby ready himself, then he pushed against Toby's entrance.

Toby grunted out, willing the initial pain to pass. Part of him relished the ache, though. It was like Chris was claiming him, wanting him. 

Chris rubbed his hand against Toby's side, looking down at him with nothing short of adoration.

"Chris!" Toby grunted out in a short, quiet breath. "Love you..."

"I love you too," Chris whispered back, easing in as slowly s he could. He knew they didn't have long, but he didn't want to split Toby in half. It had been a while.

Toby bit his lip and relaxed around Chris. He fit Keller like a glove. And he wanted Chris to flex, to prove it.

Feeling some of the tension down there vanish, Chris gave a testing thrust. "Tight as always."

Toby's moan was so loud that it almost threatened to get them caught. But he couldn't resist when Chris talked to him like that. 

Chris pulled back and thrust in again. 

"God, I missed this," Chris whispered. "being with you like this."

"I missed you too," Toby gasped out, reaching back to dig his nails into Chris' back. "I need you. Don't ever leave me."

Chris thrust harder. "Would never leave you, Toby."

"You're... the only.... thing.... keeps me going!" Toby cried out. He looked straight into Chris' eyes. 

Chris moaned low in his throat and kept up his fast and hard pace. The CO's could be here any second but he'd be damned if they were gonna stop him from giving Toby his all. 

"You mean everything to me, Toby," Chris hissed between breaths. "Everything!"

"Yeah Chris!" Toby cried out, rocking with the force of his thrust. "I want everything you've got! Give me all of it... Please! I need you!"

Chris grunted in reply and rocked into Toby almost desperately, needing to claim every part of him.

"I need you!" Toby's nails dug harder into Chris' back. He wanted to claim him, almost brand him. 

Chris took a deep shaky breath, surprised to find himself so close already, but he silently vowed to hold out as long as he could. Toby's fingernails were like little shanks in his back, and he loved that somehow, wanted Toby to leave his mark the way he was leaving his. He grunted loudly, really digging into him with every thrust.

"Chris.... Chris..." Toby's moans were like a mantra of the man's name, and then he switched it up. "Keller! You're everything... Don't leave - Keller!"

"Toby!" Chris cried out as he came inside Toby. His fingers dug into the sheets around him. 

Toby hissed out, sinking in against the hard mattress as much as he could. He focused on Chris' cum flowing through him, like it was washing him out, cleansing him. 

Chris laid down over him, wanting to feel the inside of him for a few moments more.

Toby let out a happy little purr as he caught his breath. Sure, he was still in Oz... but things were going on be better now. He knew it. Things felt okay, now. They felt safe.

Chris grinned. 

"It's so cute when you do that," Chris said giddily.

They were interrupted by a bang on the cell door. "Break it up!"

Chris moved but as slowly as he could, just to piss them off.

Even the annoying interruption couldn't keep the smirk off Toby's face. Everything would be okay, now. 

Chris laid beside Toby. "If you want, I can take top bunk so you don't have to climb up there."

Toby laughed and teased, "You just like to be on top!"

Chris kissed his cheek. "Damn right I do."

Toby curled in close, wrapping his arms around Chris. "Think if you stayed here, they'd say anything?"

"Well they might not notice until the next round. Or, we could put pillows under a blanket and hide you with my body."

Toby laughed. "I like it. It sounds like a nice game." He leaned in and pressed his lips to Chris' neck. "Hiding. We're bad. Rebellious."

"I'm bad, you're rebellious," Chris aid, enjoying Toby's closeness. "Of course, that all requires me to move...and I don't want to."

"I don't want you to move either," Toby admitted. "I want you to stay here with me forever." 

Chris chuckled and pressed close to him. "I'll be with you as long as physically possible Toby, and even after that."

Toby closed his eyes. "I'm glad, Chris. Because I don't think I could handle it if you ever left."

"I'm glad too..." he said, soaking in these moments. It would be a while before the guards came back around, but he knew it would feel too soon.

"I wish we could escape together," Toby whispered.

"You think your PI guys could pull that off?'

Toby looked at him. "I don't know. Maybe. It's worth asking, I guess... Where would we go, though?"

"Anywhere they can't drag us back from. Extraction laws, shit like that."

Toby chuckled good-naturedly. "Extradition, you mean."

"Ahhh, lawyer-talk," Chris said with a grin. "You know how horny that makes me."

"Oh really?" Toby grinned. "I could stir up a whole closing argument to get you off..."

"No, we need to be getting you off, Toby," Chris said seductively. "Don't think I didn't notice."

He snaked a hand down grasped Toby's cock.

Toby's lips curled into a huge grin. "How sweet, Chris. You remember," he teased. 

"Of course I do," Chris said, giving Toby's balls a little squeeze. "Tell you what, I'm gonna go the extra mile for you tonight."

He slipped down from Toby's arms and left a trail of kisses down Toby's side.

Toby shivered hard. "Mmmm... What does that mean, Chris?"

"What do you think that means?" Chris said, licking Toby's inner thigh.

Toby's cock twitched in arousal. "I think you're about to show me."

"That's right, baby," Chris murmured, happily licking the underside of Toby's balls, up his length and slurping his head into his mouth.

Toby shuddered, and his eyes slipped shut. "Yeah... Chris... Ohhh God yes."

Chris smiled and swirled his tongue around Toby's head teasingly before leaning down and giving it a good hard suck as he pulled back up.

It was near impossible for Toby to stay silent. He wanted to yell Chris' name, but he bit it down into a moan. 

Now this would be hard for him, he hadn't sucked cock in a long time, but for Toby he'd make the effort. He took Toby in as far as he could but at the first hint of a gag he stopped and pulled back up, making up for not taking him all the way with tongue play and using his hand to fondle Toby's balls for a second.

Toby didn't mind. He was still blown away, no pun intended, by the fact that Chris was doing this for him. He felt a surge of love for his cellmate and reached out, gently running a hand over Chris' head. 

Chris smiled. Toby's fingers on his head made him feel so good. He took a deep breath with his nose and went down again. A little closer but not quite there. He sucked all the way back up, determined to get this right. Toby deserved it. He deserved everything after the shit he's been through. The least Chris could do was deep-throat him.

"Ohhhh Chris," Toby moaned out. It was near impossible to not push Chris' head down. It had never been like this with Gen. 

Chris shivered hard. Encouraged by Toby's moan, he tried again and fought through his tonsil's complaint, succeeding at least to get Toby into his throat and slowly inching him further down it.

"Chris!" Toby gasped out. His eyes opened in surprise. "So... so good... never stop!"

Chris laughed. If it were possible he'd follow it, but sadly he'd need air soon. Until then he bobbed his head carefully so Toby didn't leave his throat.

Toby twitched in pleasure. "I'm gonna cum Chris - so close!"

Chris smiled, but it wouldn't show the way he was so wrapped around Toby. He was gonna make Beecher cum in his throat if it killed him. He bobbed faster, hands gripping Toby's thighs.

Toby couldn't hold on for long. He tensed and came hard, shuddered with the force of it.

Chris was expecting as much and still barely hung on to swallow most of it. He pulled back quickly and coughed, but kissed Toby's thigh to let him know he was okay.

As Toby twitched from the aftershocks, he looped an arm around Chris' neck and brought him in for a kiss. 

Chris gladly leaned in and kissed Toby's lips.

As Toby slowly pulled back, he felt himself begin to come down from his high.

"Do you... do you think..." he started.

"Having a hard time thinking right now," Chris said happily.

Toby snuggled into Chris' shoulder. "I just... do you think we're safe, now?"

"Safe? Well you are," Chris said.

"I mean..." Toby started. "All of us."

"I don't know, Toby. Schillinger's not exactly one to forgive and forget. Once he's dead, all this shit will be over."

"I think my P.I. might've killed his son," Toby admitted.

Chris tensed up. "That's not good."

Toby nodded. "Not at all. I mean, I suppose they had to... Guess he wouldn't have given the kids up without a fight. But once Schillinger doesn't hear from him..."

"We'll have to deal with Schillinger sooner rather than later," Chris murmured.

"In a .... permanent kinda way?" Toby asked.

"Yeah," Chris said quietly."Don't worry about that now...We've only got a few minutes left."

"Okay," Toby whispered back, wrapping his arms around Chris. "My kids are safe, tonight, and you're here. That's what matters."

"And you're safe. That matters too, Toby.

""Ah," Toby whispered, "I'm lower down the priority list."

"Not to me you aren't."

"You'll just have to make sure and look out for me then."

"That's right. Now shh, Toby. Maybe if we pretend to sleep they'll leave us alone."

"Okay," Toby whispered conspiratorially. "Night night, Chris. I love you."

"Night Toby."

**The End**


End file.
